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

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?

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.

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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.

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"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].

"The way he finished at La Jolla, with the two left-to-right-putts at 17 and 18 and the fist pump, the fire and the smile and the energy that came through the screen when you were watching, I haven't seen that since he joined LIV.

"I think that's affected Rahm, I think it's affected Brooks Koepka as well, but I was thrilled watching Rahm in round three and that start over the first 11 holes in round four, because it was the Rahm that everybody loves."

Listen to the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, where Ewen Murray joins Jamie Weir at Walton Heath to reflect on the PGA Championship. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.

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