OAKMONT, Pa. — Jon Rahm has 21 consecutive top-10 finishes in his LIV Golf occasions and was requested about that streak.
“I would happily trade a bunch of them for more wins, that’s for sure, but I keep putting myself in good position,” he mentioned. “Hear, I’m a realist on this case. I’ve been enjoying actually good golf, sure, however I’d be mendacity if I mentioned that it wasn’t simpler to have prime 10s with a smaller [48-player] subject.
“Had I been enjoying full-field occasions, would I’ve prime 10 each single week? No.
“However I’ve been enjoying adequate to say that I’d most certainly have been inside the highest 30 each single time and perhaps even prime 25, which for 21 straight tournaments I’d say that’s fairly good. I nonetheless would have had loads of prime 10s, that’s for positive.
“As much as I want to give it credit personally for having that many top 10s, I wouldn’t always give it as the full amount just knowing that it’s a smaller field.”
John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer, on Wednesday hinted that it’s potential Phil Mickelson, who’s enjoying in his thirty fourth U.S. Open however is within the last yr of his five-year exemption into the occasion, can be in consideration for a particular invitation subsequent yr must be not in any other case qualify.
The 2026 U.S. Open will likely be performed at Shinnecock Hills, the place Mickelson completed runner-up in 2004.
Mickelson truly acquired a particular exemption in 2021, however went on to win the PGA Championship to earn his means in in addition to a five-year exemption.
This week is the ultimate yr of that exemption.
“We would review things for Shinnecock ahead of next year and look at all of those possibilities and evaluate it from there,” Bodenhamer mentioned when requested about one other particular invite. “We hope he earns his means in, and I believe he’d inform you an identical factor. That’s what he did final time. We gave him one after which he went out and gained the PGA Championship. So, [we] wouldn’t put it previous him.’’
Rory McIlroy was requested how “big a factor” it was in his subpar PGA Championship efficiency final month having to play along with his backup driver after he was pressured to take his No. 1 out of play when it was deemed nonconforming by the USGA.
“It wasn’t a big deal for Scottie [Scheffler], so it shouldn’t have been a big deal for me,” he mentioned.
Scheffler, the world No. 1 participant who went on to win the PGA, additionally had his driver taken out of play as a result of it was discovered to be nonconforming.
