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LIV Golf: Were Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau less prepared for PGA Championship contention? Pundits analyse their major near-misses

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Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau both failed to make the most of major contention at the PGA Championship, but what caused them to miss out on winning the Wanamaker Trophy?

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The two-time major champions both came unstuck at Quail Hollow’s infamous closing “Green Mile” three-hole stretch over the weekend of the second major of the year, where Scottie Scheffler stormed to a five-shot victory.

DeChambeau was ahead late in his third round until dropping three shots over two holes, eventually ending tied-second, while Rahm charged into a share of the lead on Sunday before carding a bogey and two double bogeys to finish tied-eighth.

Both players compete on the LIV Golf League, which contains tournaments with smaller fields and events over 54 holes, leading to questions about whether the Saudi-backed circuit is conducive to helping players best prepare for major contention.

“It matters where you play to be sharp, to be at your best, to test yourself against the best, which they’re not playing against the best week in and week out,” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said on their ‘Live from the PGA Championship’ show.

“Scottie Scheffler is at the highest level and, when it mattered the most, 16, 17 and 18, when you had to hit shots, when you had to control your nerves, when you had to control the rhythm of your golf swing, Scottie had it, Bryson didn’t, Rahm didn’t.”

Rahm and DeChambeau were among 16 players from the LIV Golf League in action at the PGA Championship, with Joaquin Niemann posting his first major top-10 and Richard Bland, Tom McKibbin, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia the only others to make the cut.

“It’s hard to make an argument that LIV prepares you to win major championships,” former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said. “They are playing team events, they’re not playing on the most difficult golf courses, traveling around the world and then having to come back to America to play three to four majors.

“There’s a great quote from a Navy SEAL that’s widely used in leadership. What do you do under pressure? And he says, I sink to the level of my training. And the training that the guys get on LIV, the way they play on LIV, it’s not the same intensity as the PGA Tour. Nobody can argue that.

“They come close – Brooks [Koepka] has won a major there, Bryson has won a major there, but it’s easy – with recency bias – to say they can’t win. There’s no way that I can see that that is a better and more productive pathway to be prepared to win majors.”

Return of the ‘Rahm everyone loves’?

DeChambeau will return as defending champion at the US Open next month, a year on from his dramatic one-shot victory over Rory McIlroy and with five top-six finishes in his last six major starts, while Rahm will also be searching for a third major victory.

“He [Rahm] is not rubbing shoulders there at LIV with a Rory McIlroy and not rubbing shoulders with a Scottie Scheffler and they’re the best two players in the world today,” Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray told the Sky Sports Golf podcast.

Rahm used to look so comfortable alongside them and you always felt Rahm had the beating of these players. It’s going to happen every time you go out, but I got the feeling Rahm believed that he could go out there and beat them every time.

“I felt a little for Jon Rahm, because it’s the first time we’ve seen him – since he joined LIV – in the mix, with the fire burning.

“He’s a great player and a fantastic player to watch, but I think when the dollar is in the bank before the tee is in the ground – regardless of how much money you’ve got – it must take a little bit of the competitiveness away.

“We haven’t seen the Jon Rahm over the last year that we’ve seen the previous two or three years, the one we saw produce a brilliant win at Augusta National [2023 Masters] and the one that won at La Jolla [2021 US Open].

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Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

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The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

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With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

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Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

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Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

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It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

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Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

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It looks like LIV Golf is over.

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The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

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