Jon Rahm unintentionally daggers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Jon Rahm has offered his latest thoughts on Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's new golf league, explaining TGL is different to what he expected.

Ben Smith

16 Aug 2023

Jon Rahm unintentionally daggers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Jon Rahm admitted Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's golf league, TGL, is 'different to what I expected'.

Rahm is back at Olympia Fields for the second leg of the PGA Tour's 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs at the BMW Championship.

He retained the No.1 ranking after the FedEx St. Jude Championship - won by a sweaty Lucas Glover - but was a non-factor in the tournament.

An off-colour 73 was followed by rounds of 67, 67 and 68 but in the end that was 10 strokes back of Glover and Patrick Cantlay before they headed to a playoff.

Rahm has happy memories of this venue, having won here in 2020. He sank a 66-foot birdie putt to defeat Dustin Johnson in a playoff.

"It's obviously a very different week, " Rahm told on reporters on Tuesday. "We don't have COVID rules. Everybody is here present, and we don't have those Zoom media calls."

Rahm added that he beyond the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake.

He said:

"I've done a pretty good job so far. Hopefully, this week I can have a good performance like I did last time, earn it, clinch it, and give myself the best shot for the win. It’s been a great year so far, so hopefully, I can end it off the way I started it."

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Rahm has been unflinching in offering his opinions on all sorts of topics throughout the calendar year.

From LIV Golf to the huge changes the PGA Tour has enacted as a result of their rival.

Has the new structure shined a brighter light on just how competitive it is?

Rahm said:

"I think from the outside without real experience and what we experience as players, you're never going to get the full scoop on how difficult it really is to be out here, and the more we can do to show the elite level of some players, it's pretty special.

"I'm pretty sure you can go down the stats of 51st to 55th in the FedExCup and consider they've had a pretty darned good year. They're incredible golfers, yet they can't make it to the end of the Playoffs.

"Like it happens in many other sports, but we carry what we've done all year around.

"I'm glad it's showing how difficult it truly is, because it is."

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"I think we have the opportunity to do something very special"

Last November, Rahm announced alongside Justin Thomas as the latest high-profile name to join the golf league created by Woods and McIlroy.

GolfMagic has already written a full-explainer about TGL.

Things are slowly taking shape. What are Rahm's thoughts on what he has seen so far?

He said:

'I've seen a virtual reality little video of it. I haven't seen it in person.

"It's different to what I expected. I didn't realize how big it was going to be, which makes it a lot better.

"I'm looking forward to being able to start it. I don't know really what to expect with playing -- I have a simulator in my home and it's a 14-foot screen TV and you're 12 feet from the screen, and from what I hear we're going to be 35 yards from the screen and the screen is going to be 60 feet wide and 40-some feet tall.

"I can't even picture how big it's going to be. It's going to be like that wall right there and taller, and we're going quite a bit away, and we're going to be playing from 50 yards into the pin.

"It's going to be a very, very unique circumstance, but I'm really looking forward to it. It can make a really fun atmosphere.

"Besides that, I haven't really seen other -- I don't know how the ins and outs of it are going to be yet exactly. We don't know exactly how it's going to go."

Rahm said he believes TGL will appeal to a different audience.

"I think we have the opportunity to do something very special," he added.

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