Rahm’s move still sore point

Golf’s civil war has reignited at the Masters amid claims defending champion Jon Rahm sold out to the Saudi-backed LIV league.

Rahm is aiming to join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-toback winners in tournament history, but faced a fresh attack over his abandonment of the PGA Tour.

“This guy went from essentially having a lead role in The Godfather to now being a sideshow vaudeville act,” outspoken golf analyst Brandel Chamblee said.

“Jon Rahm thought his departure was going to be the tipping point (for the reunification of golf). It wasn’t the tipping point at all.”

Faldo – who won green jackets in 1989, 1990 and 1996 – also questioned the Spaniard’s preparation on the breakaway LIV tour.

“He has been playing resort courses in his shorts for the last couple of months and hasn’t really been tested yet,” Faldo said.

“He’s a hell of a player, but he’s going to have to make a little bit more effort to step it up and get the right intensity.”

Rahm – one of 13 LIV defectors at Augusta – admitted he had hoped his monster $450m move to LIV might have sparked “a step towards some kind of agreement”.

But peace talks between the rival tours have slowed.

“I understood my position, yes. And I understood that it could be, hope it would be something that would help expedite that process,” Rahm said.

“But at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself.

“I still love the PGA Tour …. and I still hope that at some point I can compete there again.”

Rahm, a two-time major champion, has called on LIV chiefs to introduce a traditional 72-hole format.