Phil Mickelson Faces Scrutiny for Misleading Jon Rahm as His Career Hits Rock Bottom

Did Greg Norman & Phil Mickelson trick Jon Rahm into joining LIV Golf? Sure, the Spanish giant received a lot of money for jumping ship from the PGA Tour. He has also been immensely successful in this time. In the last two seasons, he has won the LIV Individual Championship consecutively. But outside LIV Golf, Rahm has not shone quite the same. The reason? Brandel Chamblee knows just who may be responsible.

Chamblee recently joined Trey Wingo on his YouTube channel to discuss the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, among other things. This was an interesting talk involving the future of LIV Golf. But long before that, they touched upon the beginning. Chamblee told Wingo, “A lot of players out there were misled, thinking that they were going to be the impetus to change. Amongst them and at the top of that heap was Jon Rahm.”

Chamblee didn’t hold back when the conversation turned to Jon Rahm’s decision. He suggested that Rahm had been “misled, probably by Phil Mickelson, maybe by Greg Norman,” into believing his move would spark a major shift in the sport. According to Chamblee, Rahm was told he was “such a monumental star” that his signing would force the two entities to unite. But that never happened.

As Chamblee pointed out, the merger talks stalled, and LIV’s momentum slowed. He even added a sharp jab, saying only a handful of players, “Tiger, Rory, Spieth when he was at his best, and Phil Mickelson eons ago,” could truly draw fans to their TVs.

After winning the Masters Tournament and three other titles in 2023, Jon Rahm certainly had a lot of momentum going for himself. Who would have thought that his rank would be consistently dropping today? Greg Norman’s huge offer to sign him for half a billion seemed valid at that point, as he had essentially stolen the world #1 player from Jay Monahan & Co. Despite his success, Rahm hadn’t achieved the status of players like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, or even Phil Mickelson. Believing he could be the one to draw fans to LIV Golf proved misleading. Today, this has backfired on Rahm’s form.

As Jon Rahm endures a tough run away from LIV Golf, let’s see what he has achieved on the DP World Tour and in the majors since he joined the Saudi-based promotion.

Jon Rahm’s form outside LIV Golf since joining LIV Golf

In 2023, apart from winning the Masters Tournament and three other titles, Jon Rahm also had a runner-up finish in the Mexico Open and The Open Championship. A year later, the Spaniard saw a major drop in form in the majors as he missed a cut for the first time in 5 years in the 2024 PGA Championship. Rahm also registered his worst-ever finish at Augusta National, ending the Green Jacket event at T45.

This season, Rahm failed to win a single event on LIV Golf, despite capturing the Individual Championship and the Team Championship. He didn’t miss a cut in the majors and also got two top-10 finishes. However, in these two seasons, Rahm has also not been able to capture a single title on the DP World Tour.

He did perform well for Team Europe in the 2025 Ryder Cup. But overall, Jon Rahm’s form has clearly gotten progressively worse. It will be interesting to see what he achieves in the DP World Tour play-offs and in the 2026 season. For now, though, it’s evident that the Spanish giant is not that big of a giant in golf anymore.