Global success: Rahm eyes another opportunity to add to his victory map

SINGAPORE – Winning any professional golf tournament is an impressive accomplishment. Winning multiple times? Even more so. The greats of the game tend to rack up the most victories, so it’s an easy baseline to determine levels of excellence. 

But what about the location of those victories? What about the golfers who succeed across the globe, who are willing to battle significant time-zone changes, passport lines, weather adjustments, various course types and conditions in unfamiliar settings? Who embrace new cultures, eclectic dining options and native languages while prepping for a tournament? 

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On Sunday in Hong Kong, Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm claimed his 23rd professional win. It was the eighth different country in which he’s won. This week at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore, he has the chance to increase that number to nine. And he’ll also get the opportunity the following week at LIV Golf South Africa as he makes his first career start on the continent of Africa.

It’s the benefit of LIV Golf’s global schedule that includes tournaments in 10 different countries this season. 

“It’s really unique, the opportunity to go play and take your golf to different corners of the world,” Rahm said. “To be able to win in them is quite special.”

It’s certainly special for players who have an interest in competing as a global athlete instead of focusing on domestic success, who willingly measure themselves on a broader scale. Rahm is not the first golfer from Spain to take such a well-rounded view. 

His fellow LIV Golf captain, Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC, has won 38 tournaments in 18 different countries. Their hero, the late Seve Ballesteros, not only won tournaments in more than 20 different countries but won on five different continents at the tender age of 20. 

Several other established LIV Golf veterans have enjoyed extensive success across the world. Majesticks Golf Club’s Lee Westwood has won in 20 different countries while his co-captain Ian Poulter has enjoyed success in 12 countries. Crushers GC’s Paul Casey, another Englishman, has wins in 13 countries. 

Of the 54 full-time LIV Golf players this season who have won individual professional tournaments, 43 have hoisted trophies in at least three different countries. 

“Golf is a global game,” Garcia said. “We want to promote the game, our beautiful game, the game that we love everywhere in the world. 

“I’ve been very fortunate to do well pretty much all over the world. That’s something that makes me very proud. It shows that I’ve tried to display or show my game and represent my country – and now obviously our team, the Fireballs, everywhere we go, we try to perform to the best of our ability.” 

“It’s fun to be able to do that, see the excitement from the people at all the different places that we get to play.”

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, the runner-up to Rahm in LIV Golf’s season-long points race the last two seasons, started his winning ways with eight victories in his native Chile (six of those while he was still an amateur player). 

In 2019, he won in the U.S. for the first time. Since joining LIV Golf in the inaugural 2022 season as the league’s youngest captain, Niemann has won tournaments in Australia, England, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. 

He said the benefits of having a worldwide schedule in his younger days are paying off on LIV Golf’s big stage. 

“It’s something that I’ve really enjoyed since I was a junior player,” the 27-year-old Niemann said. “We got to play all over the globe, different type of grass, different type of greens, different weather, different layouts, different type of courses. 

“I grew up my whole junior career playing on all these different types of courses. I feel like it prepared me to be a really complete player. I do know when I’m playing my best, I can win on any type of golf course.” 

The ability to adapt, Rahm said, is a trait that can help define a player’s legacy. 

“It shows the greatness of a player if you can win in any type of environment, any type of golf course, country, setup,” he explained. “It’s a bit like in tennis – if you’re somebody that can win across all surfaces, you’re obviously going to be considered a better player, and I think this can be kind of the same. 

“You obviously think about it in terms of mainly majors and golf tournaments, but when you’re someone that can do it across the board and consistently, it shows your ability to adapt and your ability to play golf.”

This current three-week stretch in the LIV Golf schedule offers the kind of challenges that global players embrace. 

Last week’s tournament in Hong Kong was played on a traditional, stately course just over 6,700 yards. The Serapong course at Sentosa this week is 700 yards longer, a muscular big-boy layout that still demands shot-making skills. Next week at Steyn City outside Johannesburg is a course that few players in the league will be familiar with – and many of the golfers, such as Rahm, will be making their first visit to South Africa. 

Add in a 10-hour flight and the task is even more formidable. 

“Nowdays, we get the question of, ‘How does this golf course fit your game?’” Rahm said. “[But] it’s our job as golfers to adapt to the golf course – and the one that can do that better, the more complete and better golfer we’ll be.” 

Rahm is just 31 years old, so he has many more years to add to his victory map. He thought his total of eight – Bahamas, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, UAE, USA and of course his native Spain – was substantial until hearing the numbers of the Spanish legends before him achieved. 

“Knowing that we’re playing in 10 different countries in LIV, hopefully I can keep adding to that tally,” he said. “Hopefully get to 10 someday, and maybe 20 someday.”