LIV Golf star Jon Rahm hasn’t been able to match the performance that he once had on the PGA Tour since joining the Saudi-backed league this past December. And on Sunday, we may have figured out one reason why that may be the case, as he voiced his frustrations with the drones that LIV uses on the broadcast to show where tee shots end up going.
Rahm found himself within two strokes of the lead going into the Par 4 6th hole in the final round of LIV Golf Nashville Sunday afternoon.
He doubled-crossed his shot, going left and into the water. Immediately after hitting the shot, Rahm looked up at the drone above him capturing his shot and began to rant about how the drone distracted him, which has seemingly been an issue for him for quite some time since joining LIV.
“Every tournament,” said Rahm. “It’s fucking incredible. Right on my backswing. These fucking drones every time.”
This is Rahm’s first tournament back from a foot infection which caused him to withdraw from the U.S. Open a week ago. But aside from this moment, it has largely looked like Rahm has had no effects from the recent injury.
In that rant from Rahm, he pretty clearly says that this issue with drones messing with his concentration on shots is not just a one-time thing. So is this perhaps the reason why we have seen his game largely decline since joining LIV?
Perhaps only Rahm truly knows the answer to that question. But regardless, it seems like Rahm will need to come to deal with drones, as they have become a more regular way for networks to help get a better viewing experience on golf broadcasts.
This week for the Traveler’s Championship, the PGA Tour debuted its own shot-tracing drone as well, which you can see from this tee shot from Tom Kim on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1804599407687446942
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.