Jon Rahm heads into Sunday’s final round of the 2026 PGA Championship, and it took less than 24 hours for the opinion pieces to follow. Golf Digest senior writer Joel Beall published a brutal take on Rahm. The article did not sit well with LIV golfer Lee Westwood, and he was quick to respond.

“What a judgmental prick you are,” Westwood wrote on X.

Lee Westwood and Jon Rahm share a warm relationship that goes a long way. On the course, they are Ryder Cup teammates, fellow LIV Golf members, and part of the same inner circle fighting to keep the league alive amid its funding crisis. Off the course, Westwood was among the LIV players stranded in Dubai during the Iran conflict, and Rahm had played a huge role in getting them safely out to Hong Kong for the next event.

So when a Golf Digest writer publishes a piece questioning Rahm’s legacy and framing a Sunday major contention as his chance to “earn it back,” Westwood has not stayed quiet. Additionally, the exchange did not stop there, and it has developed into an internet brawl. Replying to the call-out by Westwood, Beall also further tweeted.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that once LIV’s demise came into focus, Jon Rahm finally starts playing well at a major,” the journalist wrote.

Beall essentially argued that the league’s decline and not Rahm’s form were behind the resurgence. But once again, Westwood fired back immediately.

“You could have just stopped at ‘I don’t think…'”

It’s safe to say that this is not the first time Westwood and Beall have traded barbs. Back in 2022, Beall posted a tweet mocking Westwood’s and Jason Kokrak’s links to the Saudi-backed league, prompting Westwood to fire back, as he called Beall ageist and a coward for not tagging him in the original post.

Westwood’s replies raise bigger question. What is Rahm’s legacy, and who gets to define it? Beall’s argument rests on the idea that switching to LIV damaged something. However, the problem with that framing is that legacy in a sport has never really worked that way.

If we look at his performance before and during LIV, we can see the picture more objectively. Before LIV, Rahm had eight career top-fives in majors, anchored by his 2021 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines and 2023 Masters title. Then came the LIV switch, and the major results dried up:

• The Masters: Tied for 45th
• PGA Championship: Missed the cut, ending a streak of 18 consecutive weekends in majors
• U.S. Open: Withdrew due to a foot/toe injury
• The Open Championship: 7th place 

• The Masters: Tied for 14th
• PGA Championship: Tied for 34th
• U.S. Open: Tied for 17th
• The Open Championship: Tied for 34th

The argument links Rahm’s resurgence directly to LIV’s collapse, but look at what Rahm has actually done on LIV this season: He won in Hong Kong and Mexico City and added three runner-up finishes: Riyadh, Adelaide, and South Africa.

At Aronimink, Rahm ranked second in the field tee to green at the PGA Championship, and a win on Sunday would give Rahm the third leg of a career Grand Slam, making him the first Spanish player to win the PGA Championship.

With that said, it would be wrong to miss the bigger picture entirely. Rahm is not the only LIV player pushing hard this week. Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, and Martin Kaymer are all sitting within striking distance heading into Sunday.

Interestingly, the most concrete threat to Rahm’s legacy narrative is actually his Ryder Cup eligibility, the one he recently resolved.

Jon Rahm’s Ryder Cup lifeline adds another layer

Rahm reached an agreement with the DP World Tour, settling all outstanding fines and committing to five European Tour events in 2026. Rahm had been the only LIV player to decline an earlier blanket offer from the DP World Tour. He was objecting to playing 6 events, 2 of which would be Tour’s choice.

“There were some concessions on both the sides,” he said.

That resolution is relevant because it gives him a fair chance for the 2027 Ryder Cup. More than any Tour badge, this biennial event is what truly sits at the core of legacy for a European player. Westwood himself has 11 Ryder Cup appearances, and Rahm has been central to three European wins.

Rahm, for his part, is keeping his focus narrow. When asked on Saturday whether a strong performance could boost LIV in its current crisis, he declined to comment on that.

“In a week like this, I’m thinking more about myself. I’m not going to take anything outside of what I can control when it comes to competing tomorrow.”

After a difficult Masters, where LIV’s contingent largely struggled, the PGA Championship has become a statement opportunity for the league. A win here would perhaps not do well to the legacy, but for LIV players right now, it could simply be showing up when it counts.