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Masters Tournament – practice round Jon Rahm of Spain reacts on the seventh hole during a practice round for the 2026 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, USA, 06 April 2026. The Masters golf tournament begins 09 April 2026. AUGUSTA GEORGIA United States PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxINDxONLY Copyright: xERIKxS.xLESSERx
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Masters Tournament – practice round Jon Rahm of Spain reacts on the seventh hole during a practice round for the 2026 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, USA, 06 April 2026. The Masters golf tournament begins 09 April 2026. AUGUSTA GEORGIA United States PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxINDxONLY Copyright: xERIKxS.xLESSERx
The LIV Golf star, Jon Rahm, has had a challenging first round at the 2026 Masters Tournament. Through the first 18 holes, Rahm failed to score a single birdie or eagle, and now sits at 6-over-78, 73rd in the leaderboard. This round has led to a stat that the 2023 Masters winner would not want.
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He began with a bogey on the par-4 1st and proceeded to make three more bogeys in the front nine. Later on the par-5 13th, Rahm shot a double bogey. This marks his worst score in the last 37 rounds at Augusta National. This also reflects an unlikely pattern: Rahm’s performance in the first round at the Masters Tournament has been riddled with bogeys in the front nine.
Last year, he made five bogeys in the first 11 holes in round one at Augusta National. However, he also scored two birdies in that round. His performance improved significantly in the later rounds, and Rahm finished T14 in that tournament, but if it doesn’t happen this year, the Spaniard might miss the cut at Augusta for the first time. This year’s poor round particularly stings as fans had many expectations from Jon Rahm, given his 2026 season at LIV Golf.
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He began with a second-place finish in Riyadh and Adelaide. Later in Hong Kong, he secured his first win of the year. His stint in Singapore ended with a T5 finish. And later in the inaugural event in South Africa, Rahm was the runner-up. Given his performances this season, many believed he’d showcase a strong stance at the Masters Tournament. However, achieving such a feat at Augusta is not a simple task.
Jon Rahm has failed to make a birdie in a round at The Masters for the first time in his career.
78 (+6) is his worst score in 37 rounds at Augusta. pic.twitter.com/ME6Zv3INlh
— Underdog Golf (@UnderdogGolf) April 9, 2026
The unforgiving nature of Augusta’s layout played a massive role, penalizing slightly errant tee shots and demanding absolute perfection on the infamously glassy greens. Rahm’s usually reliable approach play visibly faltered, leaving him with treacherous lag putts rather than the scoring opportunities he normally capitalizes on.
“It’s a hard golf course,” Rahm told the media following the first round. “Some of the players might have been able to manage a respectable round, but when you have no feel for the swing whatsoever, it’s just not an easy one. It sucks to be in this position, to need a Herculean effort the next two days to give myself the slimmest of chances to win. It’s just frustrating.”
But as he strives to regain his momentum at the Masters Tournament, Eamon Lynch has an intriguing perspective on Rahm’s presence at Augusta.
Golf Analysts Blamed Jon Rahm for Bringing a Distracting Narrative to Augusta National
According to Lynch, Jon Rahm seems more focused on his Ryder Cup eligibility instead of increasing his chances to win the Masters Tournament. He blamed the LIV golfer for bringing drama to the course through his continuing negotiations regarding the fines and minimum events to be played at the DP World Tour.
Lynch said, “This is the third time Jon’s shown up here since he won the Masters, and it’s the third year he’s shown up with a distracting narrative going on around him of his own making.”
Two years ago, after he made the move to the Saudi-backed league, he answered all the questions around the broader golf ecosystem. He connected the DP World Tour, LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour (through majors). But last year, that narrative changed a bit. Lynch claimed that LIV Golf made him a worse player.
He continued, “Now there’s this whole issue about his eligibility for the Ryder Cup with the DP World Tour and his refusal to pay fines, which is going to leave him suspended. That’s a narrative he doesn’t need… Maybe he plays better with a little bit of noise going on around him and a chip on his shoulder, but they’re all of his own making, and this is the third year in a row where we’ve had it.”
Nevertheless, Augusta National is infamous for bringing unexpected twists to the leaderboard by the last moment, and that means Rahm still has a chance to make it to the weekend, provided he makes a successful comeback in the second round.
Written by
Edited by
Riya Singhal