LIV Golf arrives in Miami on the eve of the Augusta Masters. The Saudi circuit celebrates the fifth test of the year at the gates of the first Major of the season. The moment of truth arrives because we must not forget that up to thirteen players competing this week in Miami, will play the next one at the Augusta Masters: Jon Rahm, Sergio García, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Joaquín Niemann, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Tyrrel Hatton. Almost nothing.
It is inevitable to face this tournament as a test to see how things are, fine-tune the strings that need to be adjusted and take positions for what is coming. Jon admitted yesterday that, despite having spent seven years without playing the week before the Masters, he believes that this year it can be good for him to avoid overthinking the fact of being the defending champion.
The reality is that Jon has displayed a good game in recent months and has done so consistently. Without going too far in the statistics, Rahm is the only player on the Saudi circuit who has been among the top ten in the four tests of the season. Despite not having won, the Barrika player is second in the annual classification.
It can be said that Jon has been regular without reaching excellence, because it is true that in the defining moments, when it was time to push the machinery to the limit, Rahm has lacked to put in one or two more gears. Maybe it’s the format, maybe the desire for a victory or maybe just that Jon is still assimilating all the changes. We will see if this week changes the inertia.
Since 2017, Rahm has always arrived at Augusta National with at least one victory or at least one second place in the season. Although the statistics are by no means definitive, the Spaniard has the last bullet to maintain this outstanding tradition.
For Rahm this is a very special week. Tournament in Miami, preview of the Masters… and this Saturday at 10:00 p.m. in Spain (4:00 p.m. in Miami), his Athletic Bilbao plays the final of the King’s Cup. The Biscayan team will try to win the trophy more than 40 years later. A date marked in red on the calendar.
As a great ‘athleticzale’ fan, it is undeniable that he will be very aware of everything that happens in the match that takes place in Seville and that faces them against the Real Club Deportivo Mallorca. The starting whistle will catch him around his 13th hole and it would not be strange to see Rahm rushing his match to get to the clubhouse as soon as possible trying to get to the end.
Jokes aside, if the match goes into overtime do not be surprised to see Jon sheltered in some room watching the end of the match. Perhaps the press will have to wait. Who knows, maybe the Barrika player prefers not to look at anything from the result and put the match from the beginning after finishing his round. If Athletic is winning he will have to leave the mobile far away to not find out the result, because there will not be few congratulatory messages that he has in the inbox.
For the third consecutive year, LIV plays at the Trump National Doral. The previous two years the team season finale was held there, so it will be the first time they play it in stroke play format. Like Jon, the other twelve players who present themselves next week in Georgia will want to arrive in the best possible way. Among the favorites for the title in Augusta who play from this Friday in Miami, we will have to pay special attention to Brooks Koepka, second last year and current champion of the PGA Championship, Joaquín Niemann, champion this year of two Saudi circuit tests and who has received an invitation to the Masters and a Dustin Johnson who wants to repeat in Georgia the feat of 2020.
Of the Spaniards, it is worth noting that Sergio García arrives in Miami with a new putter to try to give a boost in that facet of his game in which he does not feel comfortable. Meanwhile, David Puig returns to competition after a well-deserved rest after chaining seven consecutive tournaments. The Catalan seeks to endorse on the Saudi circuit the excellent results he is reaping on the Asian Tour. For his part, Eugenio Chacarra will try to give continuity to the green shoots in his game that could be seen in Hong Kong last month and thus recover his best version. The Madrid player will be very aware of what happens this afternoon in Georgia, to see if his sister Carol is able to pass the cut in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
LIV Golf Miami also means the return of Anthony Kim to a tournament on American soil, we will see the expectation that the extravagant American player raises twelve years later. Among other attractions, we are sure to find a Talor Gooch hurt and motivated by his absence in the Masters. The 2023 LIV champion is sure to seek to vindicate himself with a victory.
