Jon Rahm has opened up on his underwhelming returns at the major championships in over recent years, and he insists 'golf swing problems' are to blame, not LIV Golf

DUBAI — Jon Rahm insists LIV Golf was not to blame for his underwhelming record at the major championships in recent years.

Rahm joined the breakaway league in 2023, eight months after winning the Masters, the second of his two major titles. The Spaniard has failed to add to that haul in the years since, and he gave himself few chances of winning the sport's biggest prizes.

He made a run at the PGA Championship this year but finished second to Aaron Rai by three shots. He was also in contention to win the Wanamaker Trophy 12 months earlier at Quail Hollow before falling away down the stretch as Scottie Scheffler turned the screw.

LIV took much of the blame for Rahm's descent from being a perennial contender at the majors. But Rahm, who quit the doomed league last month before a $300 million rescue deal collapsed, insists it was his golf swing, not LIV, that let him down.

"We've got to stop blaming LIV for me playing poorly at the majors," he said. "I know what you are all trying to insinuate. It's not because of LIV. It's my own, because I did have a chance to win the PGA the last two years we played it, right? It's my own doing and my own, let's say, golf swing problems.

"That's what I was alluding to: when you are not playing a big event, it's a lot easier to manage certain things. Golf courses usually are easier, so you can manage them that way.

"So I hope that what I'm working on recently can be something that makes me more consistent on the biggest stages, yeah."

Rahm claimed his third victory of the season on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, beating Tyrrell Hatton by two shots at Yas Links. The former world No. 1 also won LIV's events in Hong Kong and Mexico City.

That would be a banner season for many players, but Rahm knows he is capable of more, and he is frustrated that he did not show his best at the majors. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and finished T38 and T46 at the Masters and Open Championship, respectively.

"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, right. 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."

Rahm's victory at Yas Links has given him an outside chance of winning his second Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week, an opportunity he was not expecting.

"I really didn't think, even winning last week, that I was going to have a chance to possibly win the Race to Dubai at all. So obviously, it 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 [Ballesteros] was able to achieve. But it would still be a long way to go."