Since switching from the PGA Tour in December on the culmination of a phenomenal 2023, Jon Rahm has had a comparatively quiet stretch on LIV Golf. But despite the lull, the Spaniard is in the headlines for breaking the money charts with the USD 550 to USD 600 million deal to join the Saudi-backed league. Read on to discover more about Jon Rahm, his storied career, and meteoric rise to becoming the world’s highest-paid golfer.
Forbes’ list of the highest-earning athletes — which was recently released in May 2024 — has Rahm at No 2 with total earnings of USD 218 million. The only golfer to feature in the top-10 list, Rahm’s on-field income stands at USD 198 million and USD 20 million is from endorsements and other channels. Various reports have pegged his net worth at around USD 100 million, but this could may well be higher in the wake of his lucrative deal with LIV Golf.
The winless run on LIV has led to talk if Rahm is trying to cope with the changed scenario — the format and lack of world ranking points.
The best way to silence critics is to notch a win when LIV comes calling at Houston from June 7 to 9 or better still, at the season’s third Major, the US Open, the week after.
Rahm’s fondness for the Majors is tabulated with wins at the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters, and the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club — the venue for this year’s US Open — could be the ideal setting to declare the T45 at the 2024 Masters and missed cut at the PGA Championship as anomalies.
Time holds the key, and Rahm is too good a golfer to stay quiet for long. All his seven starts on LIV have been top-10, which place him No 2 on the individual standings, and his team, Legends XIII, is on a strong wicket too at No 2 in the team championship.
For one who is synonymous with triumphs in a short span, Rahm’s comeback demands a stage as storied as a Major, and as a past winner, the US Open is a prime opportunity.
We trace the 29-year-old’s early days and his grit and determination to emulate his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros. It’s a journey which made him World No 1 for 52 weeks. Along the way came 11 wins in official PGA Tour events and eight on the DP World Tour, all in a short span of seven years.
Jon Rahm: His stellar career and journey to becoming the world’s highest-paid golfer
Tough beginning, extraordinary progress
Born on November 10, 1994, in Barrika, a town in the Basque region of northern Spain, to Edorta Rahm and Angela Rodriguez, Rahm’s early brush with adversity started just 20 minutes after birth.
His right foot was significantly bent due to a congenital abnormality known as clubfoot. As a result, Rahm’s right ankle had to be shattered and realigned to be straightened, and the newborn had his leg plastered from the knee down.
The bruising start had no bearing on his family’s passion for golf. When Rahm was six, Angela took him to the Martiartu driving range. As she took a lesson, Rahm picked up a club, whacked a few balls, and was soon on the putting green.
By the time he was 11, it was serious golf, and the parents rented a house near the golf course to save time for practice. Rahm practised hitting the ball as hard as he could for hours. This came from the realisation that he would never be able to generate the torque required to be a power hitter due to his limited ankle movement. Thus, he made an adjustment where he focused on building power from a strong core and hand speed, shortening his backswing.
