Jon Rahm took to Augusta National on Monday wearing his Legion XIII hat – with the LIV Golf logo clearly emblazoned on the side.
Clearly not afraid to upset any PGA Tour onlookers, the Spaniard hit irons on the range and also played a few practice holes with the two logos in plain sight. Last year at the Masters, none of the LIV Golf players wore apparel with the brand’s official logo on.
Although, Phil Mickelson did wear a shirt and cap with his team’s HyFlyers logo clearly on show. This came after a meeting between LIV rebels prior to the 2023 tournament who agreed to ditch the branding from their bags and clothes as a mark of respect.
Open champion Cameron Smith even made a quip about bringing a change of clothes to Georgia last year. “I have another set of clothes made up this week without them [the team logos],” he said. “We haven’t really heard much from Augusta National about the logos. For me personally, I’m really proud of where I’m at and what I’m doing. Unless it’s a problem for these guys, I’m going to wear it.”
That is not the case this year, however. As well as Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau wore his team’s Crushers hat while a Crushers golf bag was also spotted at the range.
In typical fashion, Mickelson continued to wear his HyFlyers hat during practice on Monday. Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, however, wore TaylorMade and Nike hats.
It is the boldest LIV showing yet at the Masters and a sign of the direction of travel since its inception and the controversially announcer merger. Rahm’s defection to LIV particularly hurt the PGA Tour, especially as his win at the Masters last year was heralded as a victory for the organisation.
Rahm himself has admitted that his exit may well have accelerated merger talks between the two bodies, with a meeting recently taking place in the Bahamas. PGA chief Jay Monahan described the talks as ‘constructive’ but offered little insight.
On the impact of his exit, however, Rahm told BBC Sport : “That’s a well-thought-out argument. I could be the start of a tipping point in that sense,” Rahm said. “I understood the weight that [my] decision could have and the impact it could have. I understood that perfectly and that’s why it wasn’t an easy decision.
“The balance of golf could be disturbed a little bit. Luckily in my career, especially last year, I accomplished a lot and I got to be one of the bigger names in golf. There are few active players that could have had a bigger impact than myself in that sense. Not to be patting myself on the back too much, but I understood the position I was in.”
