Because the 35-year-old now nurses a sore elbow and nice tunes preparations away from public eyes, LIV’s prime stars this week compete on the circuit’s hardest course.
Amongst them is Bryson DeChambeau, who overhauled a stuttering McIlroy to win final June’s US Open.
These LIV contenders, who additionally embody Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann, might be determined to disprove a broadly held idea that the restricted subject 54-hole shotgun begin group format performed on LIV is detrimental to main possibilities.
Rahm was nonetheless a PGA Tour participant when he gained the 2023 Masters and believed his transfer to LIV might show a catalyst for some type of reunification in males’s skilled golf.
However as that wait continues, the Spaniard wants to indicate he can nonetheless hit heights that introduced him that second main crown two years in the past.
Rahm, final yr’s LIV particular person champion, has not gained any of their 4 tournaments up to now in 2025 however is second behind Niemann within the general standings. The 30-year-old has completed prime six in each occasion since being runner-up at February’s season opener in Riyadh.
However he’s pissed off and requires an enchancment in his scoring photographs. “I’ve not performed my greatest,” he lately admitted. “I have never felt as comfy as I would love and it is proven in my wedge recreation.
“If you wish to contend and win and particularly win majors, you want that a part of your recreation.”
So his accuracy from 150 yards and in might be value noting when LIV play this week at Doral. Donald Trump’s demanding and confirmed Miami take a look at seems to be the type of warm-up the breakaway circuit’s Augusta candidates require.
“Mainly all of the issues that make a golf course exhausting are proper right here,” commented 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, one other potential LIV risk at Augusta.
Twelve months in the past DeChambeau completed seven beneath par at Doral to tie for seventh, earlier than capturing 65-73 to share the midway lead of the Masters. He went on to tie for sixth, his greatest Augusta efficiency up to now.
It was a show that laid the foundations for taking runner-up spoils on the following month’s US PGA Championship after which prevailing at Pinehurst to inflict McIlroy’s most painful defeat.
This yr, although, the big-hitting American has solely posted one prime 10 on LIV. This, due to this fact, turns into an essential week for DeChambeau to seek out kind.
Koepka, who’s the one different golfer to win a serious whereas enjoying the LIV schedule – the 2023 US PGA – has lengthy loved a fame for reserving his greatest kind for grand slam occasions.
The 5 instances main champion struggles for motivation in bog-standard tournaments. However there are indicators that Koepka is stirring after ending second at LIV’s most up-to-date match in Singapore.
Surprisingly, he didn’t crack the highest 25 in final yr’s majors, however he held the 54-hole lead at Augusta in 2023 earlier than capturing 75 to lose to Rahm by 4 photographs. It could not be a shock to see him contend once more this yr.
