Jon Rahm Sets Aside LIV Golf Talk Ahead of PGA Championship Final Round

Jon Rahm fired a score of 67 in the third round of the 2026 PGA Championship and finished the day 2 strokes behind leader Alex Smalley.

Jon Rahm Sets Aside LIV Golf Talk Ahead of PGA Championship Final Round

Jon Rahm (Image via X/@NUCLRGOLF)

Jon Rahm has found himself in contention for the PGA Championship. After an incredible round of 67 on the moving day, the Spaniard climbed up the leaderboard. Ahead of the final round, he kept aside the talks of LIV Golf.

The former World No.1 is one of the top names on the LIV circuit. He has 3 runner-up finishes, 2 wins, and 2 top-10 finishes on the breakaway circuit this year. He did have a bit of a disappointing outing at the Masters Tournament as he finished T38.

At the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, the LIV Golf star has been in fine form. After an opening round score of 69, he carded a round of 70 on Friday.

On Saturday, Rahm had a strong start. He birdied the first hole and made 2 more birdies on the front nine to finish the 3-under par in the first nine holes.

After a bogey on the 11th hole, he made birdies on the 14th and 16th holes. On the final hole, he made his second bogey of the day to finish the round with a 3-under 67 score. He jumped up 14 positions and was T2, 2 shots behind leader Alex Smalley at the end of Saturday.

A victory on Sunday would make Rahm just the third golfer to claim a major championship while being an active LIV golfer. In 2023, Brooks Koepka became the first one to do so as he won the PGA Championship. A year later, Bryson DeChambeau took home the U.S. Open title by beating Rory McIlroy in the final round.

During the press conference on Saturday, Rahm was thus asked what his win would mean to the LIV Golf circuit. The 2-time major champion, though, is only thinking about himself and getting the job done.

Honestly, in a week like this, one, I’m thinking more about myself. I’m not going to take on anything outside what I can control when it comes to competing tomorrow. If I do get it done and I sit here again tomorrow, then you can ask me the same question, and I’ll give you an answer.

Jon Rahm told the media at PGA Championship

If Rahm can emerge as the winner on Sunday, he will complete three legs of a career grand slam, having won the U.S. Open title in 2021 and the Masters Tournament in 2023. This could give him a chance to complete the career grand slam at the Open Championship later this year.

His victory could be a massive boost to LIV Golf. At the moment, their future is uncertain following the withdrawal of the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Last month, reports claimed that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was pulling the plug on them and withdrawing its funding. A few days later, this was made official as PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan stepped down from his post as the chairman of LIV Golf.

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Jon Rahm credits PGA Tour for their course setup at PGA Championship

The PGA Championship this week has dominated the headlines with players commenting on the difficult course setup. Following the third round on Saturday, Jon Rahm credited the PGA Tour for the setup at the Aronimink Golf Club.

Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm (Image via X/@DPWorldTour)

On Friday, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler spoke out against the pin locations on the course. The golfer claimed he had never seen such a type of location in his PGA Tour career.

Rory McIlroy would then join him. The Northern Irish golfer expressed that such a bunched leaderboard was a sign of not good setup. On Saturday, McIlroy backtracked on this comment and claimed there was a “really good balance.”

Rahm, meanwhile, credited the tour for the setup and urged that he would like to know who came up with this idea this week.

I would like to know who came up with that, by the way. Honestly, when I heard people talking about 20-under par, it made me question my ability to read a golf course. … Credit to the PGA for the setup. They found some incredible hard pin locations out there.

Jon Rahm told the reporters

Rahm, the Legion XIII captain, has been paired with Canadian star Nick Taylor in the penultimate group. The duo will tee off at 2:25 p.m. local time ahead of the final pairing of Matti Schmid and Alex Smalley.

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