Until recently, a chance of winning the Race to Dubai title was beyond the wildest dreams of Jon Rahm, a former world number one and two-time Major winner.
The Spaniard has become accustomed to facing questions at press conferences about how his involvement in the ‘less competitive’ LIV may have played a role in his disappointing performances at Majors in recent years.
All set to play a full DP World Tour schedule in 2027, Rahm could not avoid those LIV questions after arriving in Dubai for the season finale.
But what has changed quite dramatically is his position in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
The 32-year-old goes into the DP World Tour Championship (November 12-15) at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai as a major contender for the Race to Dubai title.
It’s an incredible turnaround for a man who was languishing in 51st place ahead of last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship.
But his stunning triumph in Abu Dhabi catapulted him into sixth place, giving him a big opportunity to win in Dubai and claim the European No. 1 crown for a second time.
Chasing the idol
Eugenio Chacarra and Rory McIlroy are the top two contenders for the big title in Dubai, but Rahm knows the Earth Course well, having recorded three wins and two top-five finishes in five appearances.
Winning a second season-ending title would be a great boost for Rahm, whose Spanish idol, Seve Ballesteros, famously won six Harry Vardon Trophies.
For a man who is used to facing questions about LIV, he is now happily responding to queries about his Harry Vardon Trophy ambitions — whether a win in Dubai this Sunday would inspire him to chase Ballesteros’s record of six titles, which has since been eclipsed by Rory McIlroy.
“I’m coming in with a little extra incentive,” Rahm said. “I really didn’t think even winning last week I was going to have a chance to possibly win the Race to Dubai at all. So that obviously gives this week a little bit more meaning than it did before.
“It would mean a great deal. I think it would just be more of a step towards hopefully getting closer to what Seve was able to achieve.
“But it would still be a long way to go. I think that second one would mean a lot, if I ever get to five or six, and then after that, you think about Monty and by then, you’ll probably be thinking about Rory, whatever he’s at.
“I think after the first one, those second, thirds, it becomes something, once you can approach whoever is next. Or once you’re done, you can reflect on it. It would be special, to not knowing I had a chance, come in the last two weeks and get it done.”
The road back
Back in 2023, Rahm’s decision to join LIV for the 2024 season stunned the golfing world. The announcement came after a highly successful year in which he won the Masters and finished tied second at the Open.
He went on to clinch three LIV individual titles, but suffered a dip in form at the Majors, missing two cuts.
The closest he came to winning a third Major was at the PGA Championship last May, when he finished tied second.
While his performances were not consistent until his Abu Dhabi victory last week, Rahm maintained that he had never felt uncomfortable with his game.
“I’ve played really good golf this year,” he said. “It’s just that unfortunately some of my not-so-good weeks happen to be in the Majors. Besides the PGA where I had a decent chance of winning, the other three Majors, I didn’t do a good enough job.
“Overall really good, but those tournaments matter so much to all of us that, you know, kicking myself a little bit over that.”
All those painful results will quickly be erased from his memory if he completes the grand UAE double this Sunday.
The LIV questions may still keep popping up, but there’s no better way to answer your critics than to let your game do the talking.
Source: Khaleej Times