Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau Suffer Major Disappointment in Opening Round of 2026 Masters Tournament

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau finished with scores of 78 and 76, respectively, in the first round of the Masters as the top two LIV Golfers struggled on the course.

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau Suffer Major Disappointment in Opening Round of 2026 Masters Tournament

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau (Image via Fox Sports)

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau both had a day to forget on Thursday. The top two LIV Golfers suffered a major disappointment in the opening round of the Masters Tournament with scores of 78 and 76, respectively.

On LIV Golf, the two of them have been in fine form. After missing out on the LIV Golf Adelaide title against Anthony Kim, Rahm won the LIV Golf Hong Kong event. The 2023 Masters champion has 1 win, 3 runner-up and 1 5th place finish in 5 LIV events.

Sitting just behind him in the individual standings in 2nd is DeChambeau. After a T17, T3 and T24 finishes in his first 3 starts, the American golfer went back-to-back at LIV Golf Singapore and LIV Golf South Africa.

In Singapore, DeChambeau overcame Richard T. Lee in the playoff round. A week later, he took down Rahm in the playoff round after the Spaniard rallied back in the final round. This made the two of them as favorites to win the green jacket.

However, things did play out as they had hoped for. Rahm started the round with a bogey. The 2023 Masters Tournament failed to make a single birdie and finished the opening round with a score of 6-over 78 with 4 birdies and 1 double bogey.

This was not only Rahm’s worst score at the Augusta National, but he even tied an unwanted record. His score of 78 was the worst major score of his career. He fired the same number at the 2018 U.S. Open and then a month later at The Open Championship.

As for DeChambeau, he started with a par, bogey and birdie. He struggled to get out of the bunker on the 11th hole and made a triple bogey. He finished off the round with bogeys on holes 16 and 18 and a birdie on the 17th.

His score of 76 saw him end the day tied for 56th. This is the worst first-round position of his 10 Masters starts and is 11 shots behind co-leaders Sam Burns and defending champion Rory McIlroy.

In the long history of the Masters Tournament, no one has ever won the green jacket by recording a triple bogey during the event. DeChambeau, who finished T5 last year after slipping up in the final round, will need something of a miracle to pull off the win from this position.

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are not the only LIV Golfers who struggled in opening round of 2026 Masters

Before the tournament, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were considered 2 of the favorites to win this week. Now the duo will fight to stay alive in the event on Friday and make the cut. They, however, were not the only LIV Golfers who struggled.

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau
Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau (Image via Imago)

This year, a total of 10 LIV Golfers took part in the Masters Tournament. Just a few days before the event, 3-time champion Phil Mickelson announced that he will not be at the Augusta National this year due to some personal family health matter.

Among the 10 LIV Golf stars, Dustin Johnson, Charles Schwartzel, Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia were former champions alongside Jon Rahm. The other LIV stars who competed in this event were Cameron Smith, Tom McKibbin, Tyrrell Hatton, Carlos Ortiz and Bryson DeChambeau.

Ortiz, who was making his second start in this event, had the worst showing among all of them. The Mexican struggled early and started with two double bogeys and two bogeys in the first 5 holes. He eventually finished with an 8-over 80 score.

Watson was tied with DeChambeau at 56th with a 4-over score. McKibbin and Schwartzel were T48, one shot better than them at 3-over par. Hatton and Smith then came in at T40 with a 2-over par score.

2021 winner, Dustin Johnson, shot 73 in the opening round and was T33. Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia fired an even par score of 72. None of the 10 golfers were able to post a score better than even par.

Former LIV Golf stars Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed had a decent showing compared to this. While Koepka finished T17 with an even par score of 72, Reed finished the day T3 with a score of 69.

Some of the LIV Golf stars will need a much better performance than this to play this weekend. Unlike the PIF-backed circuit, there is a cut in the Masters Tournament. The cutline is projected to be at 3-over par.

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