Jon Rahm passes the point of no return as LIV Golf’s new hero makes a fast start to life as a rebel at its 2024 curtain-raiser in Mexico… but despite all the fanfare around the Masters champion, it’s Joaquin Niemann who steals the show

Jon Rahm chose to name his LIV Golf team after Legion XIII, the Roman Empire unit that crossed the Rubicon under Julius Caesar. It was a fitting namesake, as Rahm crossed his own Rubicon on Friday.

As soon as the Masters champion secured victory in Mayakoba on Friday, his life on LIV’s side in the civil war began and the point of no return to the PGA Tour was officially passed.

Rahm, 29, had admitted that defecting from the $500 million LIV Golf was a “big risk” to take ahead of his debut in Mexico earlier this week. But when his LIV career kicked off on Friday, the gamble seemed to pay off.

The Spaniard made a fast start to life at LIV, which rewarded both himself and the leading group’s big money moves within just one hole.

However, Rahm claimed after his round that he felt he had already crossed the gap earlier in the week, stating that Friday was “time to work.”

It’s likely he was past the point of no return long before this week. Rahm’s LIV revolution began in earnest in December, when the Masters champion’s offseason mega-money poaching was declared a game-changer.

It was the move that ushered in a new era of LIV, one in which even the biggest – and previously loyalist – PGA Tour stars could eventually be lured away.

LIV had been the bad guy for so long. On Friday it finally had its hero – and it couldn’t wait to ride him out.

Naturally, LIV’s $500 million leading man had top billing, taking the stage on the first tee for the 2024 curtain-raiser alongside last season’s individual champions Talor Gooch and Cam Smith.

Fans began gathering around the tee box about a half-hour before the ET shotgun start of 1:15 p.m. to reserve their seats for the premiere of LIV’s “Rahmaggedon.” And they were not left disappointed.

Within one hole the leading group had already gotten their multi-million dollar bang for their buck when the two-time major winner opened his LIV career with a birdie.

The Spaniard then shot another five through his first nine holes to score five-under for the day and finish in fourth place.

“I could feel the pressure, but it’s a good thing, right?” Rahm admitted when asked how he felt standing on the first tee.

‘It’s weird; you can choose a song for the first tee, and I thought it might help. If anything, it gave it a little more: the heart rate went up a little when you heard a song you like. I’m confident, but the added pressure of it being one of my favorite songs helped because I hit a great tee shot to start the day.”

And to think, it almost didn’t happen. LIV’s season opener was thrown into chaos when it was reported that ‘half the field’ had been affected by food poisoning. But the leading group, as stubborn as its foray into the sport, plowed on.

LIV insisted that despite “wildly exaggerated reports,” only a “few” players felt ill and that the Rahm show would go on.

And keep going, it did. However, it wasn’t Rahm who was in the spotlight. Instead, it was Joaquin Niemann who stole the show.

The Chilean scorched the Mayakoba course and shot a 59, posting the second-lowest score in LIV history – one shot shy of Bryson DeChambeau’s record of 58 at Greenbrier last year.

He fired a seven-under 28 through his first nine holes before knocking it in at eagle at the 11th and making four more birdies on the back nine, putting him seven shots clear of Rahm in fourth with a total of 12 -under for the day. .

Rahm said at his post-round press conference that he would have placed money on no one shooting a 59 at El Camaleon this week. After his own round, Niemann joked that LIV’s new son owed him money.

“I wouldn’t feel the same way either,” he added. “I think the fairways play a lot tighter than they used to. The rough is also a lot more difficult. It takes a little longer and you have a lot of different lies, which is difficult.

“But man, I played great golf. Sometimes when I hit the ball I was getting good lies, good bounce on the fairways, good numbers, so everything worked out pretty well all day.”

Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia, who had welcomed the ‘exciting’ arrival of his compatriot Rahm, sat third, one shot behind Patrick Reed in second on seven under.

Rahm could have gotten his share of third place, but he bogeyed the last two holes and fell to five under.

But despite not finishing the same way he started, LIV’s $500 million move for Rahm appears to have paid off with an opening round full of the quality the PGA Tour has come to expect from the Spaniard.

But whether his own gamble is as rewarding remains to be seen.

“For the team name, I wanted to tap into the mythology of the warrior spirit,” Rahm had said, explaining his team name.

‘The term loyalty is very important to me. I think it embodies the warrior spirit through its decisiveness and its readiness for battle. During the Roman Empire, there was the iconic Legion XIII Gemina in Caesar’s army. They believed in the credo of staunch loyalty.”

The irony of Rahm’s value of loyalty just a month after leaving the Tour to which he had once pledged allegiance was not lost on anyone. It revealed the fact that Rahm rolled the dice with his reputation and legacy on the line.

After Friday, his loyalty now belongs to LIV, just as that of Legion XIII belongs to Caesar, but he still wants it to partly belong to Europe as well.

Rahm admitted earlier this week that he had risked his Ryder Cup appearance as LIV’s lack of OWGR points would likely leave his presence at Bethpage in the hands of European captain Luke Donald.

Rory McIlroy would certainly back him, but it will take more than just playing at the level he did in Friday’s LIV breakout. He will have to repeat it in the majors as well.

If he can perform on the Rebels circuit and on golf’s biggest stages, then Rahm’s bid to have his cake and eat it will certainly be met.