Jon Rahm not getting carried away with LIV HK win as he turns focus to Singapore
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Jon Rahm's LIV Hong Kong victory ended an 18-month winless drought for the Spaniard.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Jon Rahm won LIV Hong Kong after an 18-month drought but quickly shifted focus to LIV Singapore, emphasising the importance of staying present and proving his momentum.
- Rahm addressed questions about the Masters, highlighting upcoming tournaments and his relief from constant questions about his winless streak.
- Joaquin Niemann, LIV Singapore's defending champion, aims to improve his game and enjoy playing in Singapore, despite a less successful start to 2026.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – A three-shot victory at LIV Hong Kong on March 8 evoked a wave of emotions for Jon Rahm, who finally got his hands on a trophy after an 18-month winless drought.
But the Spaniard barely had time to savour his win.
At 10am the next morning, he was already on the plane to Singapore, which will host the next LIV event from March 12 to 15.
The 31-year-old said: “Maybe you can celebrate the accomplishments afterwards, but it’s also a blessing that you have the opportunity to compete right away while you know you’re playing good.
“Momentum is a thing, but you also have to prove it, right? So you’ve got to keep working at it.”
Speaking at a press conference at Sentosa Golf Club on March 10, the two-time Major winner stressed the importance of staying in the present and not getting carried away, even after enjoying an encouraging start to the season.
Besides his win at the Hong Kong Golf Club, the world No. 36 also finished runner-up in Australia and Saudi Arabia, the first two events of 2026.
With the April 9-12 Masters just weeks away, the 11-time PGA Tour winner was asked about the significance of his win as the season’s first Major approaches.
Slightly bristling at those questions, the 2023 Masters champion highlighted that there are still two events before that: This week’s Singapore tournament, followed by LIV’s South Africa event from March 19 to 22.
He said: “It’s very significant in the sense that I don’t have to hear again that I’ve played 20-something events and haven’t won yet, I haven’t won in two years and all those things. I don’t have to hear that for hopefully a long time.
“I’ve been putting myself in position to get it done... It is always going to be a huge confidence booster going into Augusta.
“But like I said earlier, while it’s in the back or the front of our mind, we still have this week to take care of before we can think about the Masters.”
Staying in the present also helped him keep distractions at bay last week, amid the disagreement with the DP World Tour and chartering a private plane to evacuate seven LIV golfers and a caddie stranded in war-affected Dubai.
Rahm had accused the DP World Tour of “extorting” players, when explaining why he was not among the eight LIV Golf players who signed waivers to compete on the European circuit.
Those who did – Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie – had to agree to pay any pending fines, compete in a prescribed minimum of DP World Tour tournaments and drop pending appeals.
The plight of his fellow LIV players, including Detry, McKibbin, Meronk, Lee Westwood and Anirban Lahiri, who needed help getting out of the Middle East also put things in perspective for Rahm.
He said: “There’s real problems in the world, and whether I have an agreement or disagreement with the DP World Tour, it shouldn’t be one of them.
“While we continue to discuss what the future might be, it’s not something to overly worry about when there’s real tragedy happening worldwide.
“I was constantly reminded by my friends and my fellow players about being in Dubai in a war zone nearby. It just puts things in perspective what really matters.”
While Rahm is aiming to ride on the momentum of his hot start to 2026, defending champion Joaquin Niemann is hoping to rediscover his winning touch in Singapore.
Defending champion Joaquin Niemann is hoping to rediscover his winning touch in Singapore.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Around this time in 2025, the Chilean already had a win from Adelaide under his belt, before going on to win four more times.
This season, he has yet to finish in the top 10, with his best performance a tied-12th finish in Australia, while he was joint-22nd and tied-41st in Riyadh and Hong Kong respectively.
However, the 27-year-old is not too worried. He said: “I just need to improve a little bit on everything. It’s just one of those things that this sport is the way it works.
“I feel like it’s just putting the pieces together and taking a little bit of expectations out of the side, play my golf, play free and enjoy being out there...
“Everything is set to enjoy it, and I know I play my best golf here, so it’s nice to be back also in Singapore.”
