“He’s been playing resort courses” - Jon Rahm will need to ‘step up’, says Sir Nick Faldo after the Spaniard’s LIV Golf switch

The 2024 Masters is right around the corner, and Jon Rahm is the defending champion. After making his switch to the LIV Golf Series for the 2024 season, Rahm has not been a part of any of the main tournaments this year.

Now, he will be facing off against the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith. The Masters will be the first Major of the year, and it will be the first time that the best golfers in the world will come together.

Ahead of the Masters, Sir Nick Faldo commented on Jon Rahm, saying (via NUCLR GOLF):

"He made comments when he watched Riviera, saying he wished he was there and that it was a great golf course. I bet he wished he was there. He's been playing resort courses right now in shorts for the last couple of months. He hasn’t really been tested. He's a hell of a player. He’s gonna have to step it up to get the right intensity."

This year, 13 LIV golfers will be a part of the Masters, a number that has been reducing every year since the beginning of the series. LIV Golfers have dropped down the OWGR leaderboard and missed out on the main tournaments, which has left them out of the roster for the Major championships.

All LIV Golfers that will be a part of the 2024 Masters, ft. Jon Rahm

Following are the LIV Golf players that will be a part of the 2024 Masters:

Bryson DeChambeau
Sergio García
Tyrell Hatton
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Adrian Meronk
Phil Mickelson
Joaquín Niemann
Jon Rahm
Patrick Reed
Charl Schwartzel
Cameron Smith
Bubba Watson

The LIV Golf Miami event was held one week ahead of the Masters, and Jon Rahm finished tied for fourth. Hoping to carry on the momentum, Rahm said that he could continue his strong performance.

“It was a great week. Hopefully I can keep doing all the good things I’ve done this week next week and avoid a couple of silly mistakes and hopefully go back-to-back," he said via the Mirror.

The Masters will be held from April 11 to 14 at the Augusta National golf course, boasting a prize purse of $20 million.