Jon Rahm has had a relatively quiet time on the LIV Golf Tour since first switching from the PGA Tour to the LIV Golf Tour in December 2023 after the end of the exciting 2023 season. However, despite this quiet period, the Spaniard has broken the record of the earnings charts by joining the Saudi-backed league with a salary of $550 million to $600 million. Read on to learn more about Jon Rahm, his legendary career and his rapid rise to the highest-paid golfer in the world.
Forbes' list of the highest-paid athletes was released in May 2024, with Rahm ranked second with total earnings of $218 million. Rahm was the only golfer to make the top 10, with on-course earnings of $198 million, of which $20 million came from endorsements and other sources. Various reports peg his net worth at around $100 million, but that number could be higher after he signed a lucrative contract with LIV Golf.
The winless streak at LIV sparked discussion on whether Rahm was struggling to cope with the changed format and lack of world ranking points.
The best way to silence the critics is to win when LIV comes to Houston June 7-9, or better yet, a victory a week later at the U.S. Open, the third major of the season.
Rahm’s affinity for the majors can be seen in his victories at the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters, and Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, site of this year’s U.S. Open, could be the perfect place to declare a T45 at the 2024 Masters and a failure to make the cut at the PGA Championship an anomaly.
Timing is of the essence, and Rahm is too good a golfer to stay quiet for long. All seven of his starts at LIV were top-10s, which put him second in the individual standings, while his team Legends XIII also finished second in the team championship.
For a player who is synonymous with victory in a short period of time, Rahm's comeback requires a stage as legendary as a Grand Slam, and as a former champion, the U.S. Open is a perfect opportunity.
We look back at the 29-year-old's early years and his grit and determination to emulate his late idol, Seve Ballesteros, which saw him spend 52 consecutive weeks at world number one. In just seven years, he has won 11 official PGA Tour events and eight DP World Tour titles.
Jon Rahm: His illustrious career and journey to becoming the world's highest-paid golfer
Rahm was born on November 10, 1994, in the small town of Barrica in the Basque region of northern Spain to Edoertà Rahm and Angela Rodriguez. Rahm began to face adversity just 20 minutes after he was born.
Due to a congenital deformity (clubfoot), his right foot was severely bent. As a result, Ram's right ankle had to be broken and realigned before it could be straightened, and the newborn's leg was in a cast from the knee down.
The initial traumatic experience did not affect his family's love of golf. When Ram was six years old, Angela took him to the Matiatu driving range. During her lesson, Ram picked up the club, hit a few balls, and soon stood on the green.
By the time he was 11, he started taking up golf seriously, and his parents rented a house near a golf course to save time for practice. Rahm would practice hitting the ball as hard as he could for hours. This was because he realized that he would never be able to generate the torque needed to be a power hitter due to the limited mobility in his ankles. So he made adjustments, focusing on building power through a strong core and hand speed, and shortening his backswing.
The innovation was a success, and Rahm represented Spain at the 2011 European Men's Team Championship and the 2014 European Amateur Team Championship. He won both tournaments and was awarded the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, the World Men's Amateur Team Championship held every two years by the International Golf Federation.
After seeing his son's progress, Rahm's father encouraged him to move to the United States for better opportunities. Rahm received a golf scholarship to Arizona State University, and he enrolled in the fall of 2012.
Recruited by Phil Mickelson's brother, Tim, a successful college golf coach at the University of San Diego and Arizona State University, Rahm faced the challenge of starting a new life in an unfamiliar environment.
Amateur Music Chart Champion
Rahm quickly rose to prominence in Arizona, winning 11 collegiate championships and topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) for a record 60 consecutive weeks. He became the first player to win the Ben Hogan Award for Best College Golfer twice, in 2015 and 2016.
Another milestone was a T5 finish at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, the best finish by an amateur on the PGA Tour since 2008.
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Rahm reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in 2015 and was awarded the Mark McCormack Medal that same year for being the highest-ranked player on the WAGR, thereby qualifying for the U.S. Open and British Open.
The Spaniard won a Pac-12 Conference title and an NCAA regional title during his college career and tied for third in the national championship.
Shine on the PGA Tour
Rahm turned pro after a strong showing at the 2016 U.S. Open, where he tied for 23rd. It didn’t take long for him to establish himself, and he made his pro debut at the Quicken Loans National, where he qualified for the U.S. Open with a tie for third.
The RBC Canadian Open was another highlight, with T2 granting him special temporary membership for the remainder of the season. Additionally, he accumulated enough points as a non-member to qualify for the 2017 PGA Tour season.
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The 2017 Farmers Insurance Open fast-tracked Rahm's career, with the win moving him from No. 137 to No. 46 in the World Golf Championships rankings, earning him invitations to the Masters, Players Championship, PGA Championship and World Golf Championships. He played in his first World Golf Championship, the Mexico Championship, and tied for third, two strokes behind champion Dustin Johnson. His lone second-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play put him in the world's top 10 for the first time.
Meanwhile, Rahm began to make a splash in Europe, with his first DP World Tour victory coming at the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. After a hugely successful 2017 PGA Tour season with a sixth-place finish in the FedEx Cup, Rahm returned to Dubai to win the DP World Tour Championship and was named Rookie of the Year.
Winning the PGA Tour Career Builder Challenge in January 2018 vaulted Rahm to second in the world, while victory at the Open de España ensured Rahm played a vital role in Europe’s historic Ryder Cup victory over the United States at the Golf National in Paris.
Rahm won the Hero World Challenge in late 2018, which wasn’t an official PGA Tour event. He teamed up with Ryan Palmer to shine at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans in April 2019, then finished T3 at the U.S. Open in June.
Rahm returned to Europe and won the Irish Open again, following his wins at the DP World Tour Championship and Spanish Open in early 2019 to be named European Tour Player of the Year.
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In July 2020, Rahm reached the pinnacle of professional golf with his victory at the iconic Memorial Tournament. He became the second Spaniard to become world number one, following his idol Ballesteros. This became a catalyst, and in June 2021 Rahm won his first major, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
The honors came pouring in — PGA Player of the Year, the Varden Trophy, and the Byron Nelson Award for the lowest score on the PGA Tour in the 2020-21 season.
Rahm has been on a roll in 2022, winning the Mexican Open and having three straight weeks of strong play on the DP World Tour, winning the Tour Championship, the Spanish Open and finishing T2 at the BMW PGA Championship.
Nicknamed “Rambeau”, the Spaniard won four times on the PGA Tour in 2023, starting with consecutive wins at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the American Express Championship. The Genesis Invitational is Rahm's next stop, and wearing a green jacket at the Masters is not surprising given his current form. Rahm's return to the world's number one position and a tie for second at the British Open mean that he will be unstoppable by the time the Ryder Cup arrives in September.
It was a fairytale week as Europe prevailed 16.5-11, with Rahm playing a crucial role in the outcome, especially in his singles match against current world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Jon Rahm Joins LIV Golf
Jon Rahm claims that history and competing against the world’s best players on the PGA Tour are his motivation, and his move to LIV Golf in December 2023 confirms what has been rumored for some time.
Rahm's reputation took a hit, with critics saying his decision was a choice of money over legacy, but the $550 million to $600 million deal with LIV vaulted him from No. 23 on Forbes' 2023 list to No. 2 in the most recent compilation, in May 2024.
This is a huge shift, and Jon Rahm's joining is the biggest event in LIV Golf's short existence and a huge boost to the league's image.
(Main photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images; Featured photo: Jon Rahm/Instagram)
FAQ
– Are there any golfers on Forbes' list of the 10 highest-paid athletes in 2024?
As of May 2024, Jon Rahm's total earnings are $218 million, ranking second among the top 10 highest-paid athletes.
– What is the value of Jon Rahm's contract with LIV Golf?
Jon Rahm reportedly joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf club in December 2023 for a transfer fee of $550 million to $600 million.
– How is Jon Rahm’s condition?
Jon Rahm was born with clubfoot and underwent surgery as an infant.