19th Hole
Jon Rahm says DP World Tour ‘turned their backs’ on Sergio Garcia in revealing interview
After one of the most enthralling finishes to a major in several years, there have been continual rumbles surrounding the future names joining the LIV Golf Series.
As if they can’t keep it out of the news, journalists continue to leap on any rumor that has the merest hint of a newcomer to the rebel ranks, one even suggesting that the newly crowned Open champion will jump ship.
Truth or fantasy, there looks to be no stopping the conversation, and after Graeme McDowell’s ‘wind-up’ tweet Jon Rahm has joined in with a view on the ever-increasing distance between the PGA and DP World tours and the Saudi-backed series.
Referencing the unpleasant rhetoric between Sergio Garcia and the two organizations, the 2021 US Open winner has called for a reconciliation between the parties, with particular reference to the ‘home’ tour and the upcoming Ryder Cup.
With Henrik Stenson strongly rumored to be off to the Greg Norman-led series and therefore surrendering his captaincy, Rahm is upset and concerned that his compatriot may not permitted to play their home events on consecutive weeks in October — the Spanish Open and the Andalucía Masters in revered Valderrama.
Even more concerning to the World No. 3 is that Garcia “can’t play the Ryder Cup.”
The DP World Tour has so far issued fines to all the LIV players but faced a legal backlash two weeks ago when Ryder Cup hero, Ian Poulter, won a legal challenge against the suspension from the Scottish Open, subsequently missing the cut but returning this week at St. Andrews after the R&A honored the entry of all players that had qualified, whatever their chosen path.
Having finished tied-34th at St. Andrews yesterday, SI.com report Rahm spoke to Spanish reporters about the split between the two sides.
In a translated piece, Rahm comments that, “Hopefully a simple solution is found,” before speaking of the positive effects a mixed event can bring.
“Weeks like the JP McManus Pro-Am (in Ireland two weeks ago), which tell you how beautiful this sport is and how much it can do, the amount of good it can do in the world … it’s such a beautiful sport that it is a pity there are certain fights between the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.”
In sympathy with the plight, Rahm acknowledges, “I understand the reasons why golfers who play LIV Golf do it and it’s a shame they have to relinquish their status on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.”
As for his good friend and fellow Spaniard, Rahm is at pains to point out the frustration felt by both parties.
“Sergio knows very well that he has dedicated his life to the European Tour in his 25 years as a pro,” Rahm said. “That they turn their backs on him that way doesn’t seem right to me. And it is what it is. It is not my decision and that he has to make this decision. It hurts me.”
“It’s a shame also because I know he wanted to play in Spain. And he won’t be able to play either the Spanish Open or at Valderrama. And it bothers me even more that he can’t play the Ryder Cup.”
With the Open now out of the way, European golf looks towards the 2023 challenge in Rome, but Rahm clearly believes that some vital players will miss out, an upsetting outcome of the current row.
“The event that gives golf the most publicity around the world is the Ryder Cup,” Rahm said. “Because of this nonsense there are players like (Garcia) who can’t play the Ryder Cup. That already makes me a little more angry. It is something that creates this sport. It is the reason that my family and I started playing golf and the reason that many in this world play golf.”
As for Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion is clearly not feeling the love of the various organizations.
He’s off to play the third of the LIV events in New Jersey in a couple of weeks time but played the 150th Open, where just one round under par led to a finish of tied-68th.
Given his four previous Opens around St. Andrews have converted to finishes of 5th, 6th, 14th and 36th, did he enjoy this week as much as he had the others?
“Not very much,” Garcia admitted. “I enjoyed the crowd, but that’s about it.”
More from the 19th Hole
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish
An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.
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