NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Joh Rahm teased his third major victory — and first since he left for Saudi-backed LIV Golf — when he opened with back-to-back birdies at Aronimink on Sunday.
Rahm, who started the final round two strokes off the lead, made only one birdie on the back nine, still good enough to contend in the PGA Championship.
Just not enough to catch Aaron Rai of England.
Rahm shot a 2-under 68 and finished three shots behind Rai. Although he enters the record book as a runner-up, he ultimately didn’t have a chance over the closing stretch.
Rahm did provide, at times, a reminder of just how well he can play in a major — or any tournament, after toiling in relative obscurity for American audiences while playing on LIV.
Rahm knows he hasn’t been part of part of the conversation about the best in golf. Despite two wins and four second-place finishes in seven LIV events this year, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy rule the sport.
And for this week, at least, so does Rai. On the closing holes when the contenders needed him to stumble, Rai holed a birdie putt of some 70 feet on the 17th hole to put it away.
“What Aaron did today, catching him could have been very difficult,” Rahm said. “I don’t know if it could happen, but I would have liked a better chance playing the last two holes. I feel like I was still close … until he made that long putt.”
Still in contention on the back nine, the Spaniard reeled off six pars before making birdie at the 16th, getting to 6 under, but by that point Rai was three strokes ahead.
Rahm won in Hong Kong in March for his first individual title since 2022. A week after a rough showing at the Masters, he won again in Mexico City.
Neither victory got as much attention as the uncertain future of LIV Golf, which next year will lose the financial backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The 31-year-old Rahm can only wonder which direction his career would have gone had he not bolted from the PGA Tour at the end of 2023 for a lucrative contract with LIV.
Asked about that decision this week, Rahm said he preferred not to look back.
He did finish with the best score of the LIV players at Aronimink. Cameron Smith, David Puig and Joaquin Niemann all finished inside the top 25, while Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut.
Rahm entered the week at No. 20 in the world, a number that could be higher had LIV Golf received ranking points before this year.
He’s keenly aware of being overlooked. Rahm referred to himself as being under the radar at the Masters and then lived up to that by nearly missing the cut.
Rahm righted himself at Aronimink thanks to some changes he made ahead of the tournament.
“It’s just small, little details that, unless you’re within, you’re not really going to understand. It’s hard to explain,” he said.
Playing on LIV means Rahm gets tested by a full field of golf’s best only at the four majors, and it hasn’t gone very well from him since he left the tougher competition on the PGA Tour.
In the eight majors before this week, Rahm finished outside the top 30 in four, including a missed cut.
He’s had three top 10s but only one serious chance of winning. That was last year in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, when he briefly challenged Scheffler.
He also tied for seventh in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, though he started the final round 11 shots behind.
Rahm has two more LIV tournaments — in Korea and Spain — before he arrives at Shinnecock Hills seeking his second U.S. Open title.
Rahm knows only winning — or at least flashing a reminder of his greatness on a major stage — will put him back in the mix among the world’s best.
“I feel like I’m playing really good golf and definitely played good enough this week to give myself a chance to win,” Rahm said. “So, keep doing what I’ve been doing well.”
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