Rahm Reflects Positively on LIV Years in First Comments Since Leaving

Jon Rahm has spoken publicly for the first time since leaving LIV Golf, telling reporters at Yas Links on Tuesday that he looks back on his three years with the Saudi-backed league positively. "I can only reflect on those three years as a positive," Rahm said, as he prepares to play the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship for the first time. The Spaniard tees off at 9:01am on Thursday alongside Matt Wallace and Ewen Ferguson, in his first start since confirming he will not return to LIV next year. Rahm sits 51st in the Race to Dubai standings, with only the top 50 after Sunday's final round advancing to next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai — so his week in Abu Dhabi carries real stakes as well as symbolic ones. The tournament, the first of the DP World Tour Play-Offs, features a star field including Rory McIlroy, who is chasing a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title, and Patrick Reed. For Rahm, though, the story is simpler: a first look at Yas Links, a first appearance in this event, and a first chance to explain, in his own words, how he feels about the chapter he has just closed.