Can Jon Rahm defend his Masters title in 2024?
August’s National Golf Club is preparing to host the Masters for the 88th time this year, and the first major championship of the year is usually filled with plenty of thrills.
2024 will be no different, as there will be various narratives unfolding throughout the competition.
For example, can Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam? Will a LIV golfer win the event? Or can Jon Rahm become just the third player after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods to defend his title at the Masters?
The favourites to win the 2024 Masters tournament
With regards to US Masters betting, both Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy are currently joint favourites to claim victory in the event at odds of 8/1, and the duo could well be the pair to beat, especially if they perform at their best.
Golf odds today have Rahm as the second favourite at 10/1, and while he is one of the best players on the planet, the Spaniard has been going through some big changes over the previous few months, which could perhaps hinder his defence.
Jon Rahm held off Brooks Koepka at the Masters in 2023
After he opened the tournament with a double bogey, Rahm proceeded to drop just seven more shots across his next 71 holes, yet he trailed Brooks Koepka by two shots heading into the final round.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion shot a final round of 69 to win by four shots and become the fourth Spaniard to claim the green jacket.
Jon Rahm just won $3.2 million at The Masters, yet he has still decided to play this week’s RBC Heritage.
When he was asked why, he said:
“It did cross my mind, but I made a commitment earlier in the year, and I want to honor that commitment.”
“I put myself in the shoes of not… pic.twitter.com/nQLZENCkcG
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 12, 2023
A year on, however, much has changed in Rahm’s professional career, as he made a highly controversial move to join LIV Golf late last year.
Jon Rahm’s form in 2024
A move to join the Saudi-funded breakaway tour meant Rahm would no longer be playing in PGA tour events.
This means fewer competitions before the Masters, on courses that vary in quality, and this could perhaps damage his chances of defending his green jacket next month.
Indeed, since announcing his LIV move, the 29-year-old has played just three events on the schedule. He finished tied third in Mayakoba, eighth in Las Vegas, and fifth in Jeddah, solid, if unspectacular form.
There are just two more events before the Masters begins in April, which means Rahm will have played only 15 competitive rounds of golf between the end of 2023 and the start of April.
Brooks Koepka has his third PGA Championship victory 🏆 🏆🏆
He becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus to win the tournament three times in a six-year span 👏 pic.twitter.com/UhEAuUreRl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 21, 2023
He will certainly turn up to Augusta National fresh, but the key question is: will the two-time major champion be too rusty to perform against the best players in the world?
Koepka proved at the PGA Championship last year that a move to LIV Golf is not detrimental to any success in the majors, as he claimed his fifth major title in imperious fashion, and this is what Rahm will be hoping to do at the Masters in a few weeks.
There will be plenty of players out to stop him, most notably McIlroy and Scheffler, but there are a few others who know their way around the fabled course, no doubt about it.
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