Golf News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Jun 11, 2024; Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA; Jon Rahm speaks to the media during a press conference at the U.S. Open golf tournament at Pinehurst No. 2. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Phil Mickelson Faces Scrutiny for Misleading Jon Rahm as His Career Hits Rock Bottom

Originally posted on EssentiallySports | By Molin Sheth | Last updated Oct 10, 2025 4:25 PM ET

Did Greg Norman & Phil Mickelson trick Jon Rahm into joining LIV Golf? Sure, the Spanish giant received a lot of money for jumping ship from the PGA Tour. And he has been immensely successful in LIV Golf as well. In the two seasons he has played so far, he has won the Individual Championship in both of them and got the Legion XIII squad the Team Championship this year. But outside the world of LIV Golf, Rahm has been nowhere close to as dominant as he used to be. And Brandel Chamblee thinks Norman & Mickelson are to be blamed for that.

The analyst joined Trey Wingo on his YouTube channel to discuss the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, among other things. They also talked about why Donald Trump thinks the PIF is not going to abandon LIV Golf. But long before that, Chamblee told Wingo, “A lot of players out there were misled, thinking that they were going to be the impetus to change. Amongst them and at the top of that heap was Jon Rahm.”

“Jon Rahm was misled, probably by Phil Mickelson, maybe by Greg Norman, that he was going to be the impetus to change. That he was such a monumental star, that if they got him, that’s it. Everything would collapse, and they would be forced to come together. That didn’t happen. There are very few people in the game of golf who stop people from mowing their lawn and rush inside to watch golf. Tiger (Woods), Rory (McIlroy), Spieth, when Jordan Spieth was playing like Jordan Spieth, and Phil Mickelson, eons ago.”

After winning the Masters Tournament and three other titles in 2023, Jon Rahm certainly had a lot of momentum going for himself. He was the top star on the PGA Tour and was a huge attraction in the world of golf. So Greg Norman’s huge offer to sign him for half a billion seemed valid at that point, as he had essentially stolen the world #1 player from Jay Monahan & Co. However, despite his success, Rahm hadn’t achieved the status of players like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, or even Phil Mickelson. So for him to be made to believe that he would be the one to draw the crowd to LIV Golf was certainly misleading. And it hugely backfired on Rahm’s form.

As Jon Rahm endures a tough run away from LIV Golf, let’s see what he has achieved on the DP World Tour and in the majors since he joined the Saudi-based promotion.

Jon Rahm’s form outside LIV Golf since joining LIV Golf

In 2023, apart from winning the Masters Tournament and three other titles, Jon Rahm also had a runner-up finish in the Mexico Open and The Open Championship. A year later, the Spaniard saw a major drop in form in the majors as he missed a cut for the first time in 5 years in the 2024 PGA Championship. Rahm also registered his worst-ever finish at Augusta National, ending the Green Jacket event at T45.

This season, Rahm failed to win a single event on LIV Golf, despite capturing the Individual Championship and the Team Championship. He didn’t miss a cut in the majors and also got two top-10 finishes. However, in these two seasons, Rahmbo has also not been able to capture a single title on the DP World Tour. He did perform well for Team Europe in the 2025 Ryder Cup. But overall, Jon Rahm’s form has clearly gotten progressively worse. It will be interesting to see what he achieves in the DP World Tour play-offs and in the 2026 season. But it’s evident that the Spanish giant is not that big of a giant in golf anymore.

This article first appeared on EssentiallySports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: