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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — On the day everything changed, Jon Rahm said that he hadn’t given much thought to how things might change. Turns out, that’s resulted in some unforeseen circumstances.

Let’s remember back. It was Dec. 7, 2023, an otherwise quiet Thursday, when Rahm dropped a seismic announcement that he was leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. At the time, the then-29-year-old not only carried the clout of a two-time major winner with 52 weeks at No. 1 in the world rankings, but also as a perceived tour loyalist who had previously openly questioned both LIV’s long-term viability and its quality of competition. Only eight months removed from winning the Masters, he was the first PGA Tour player to defect to LIV following a June 2023 framework agreement that was supposed to end the turf war.

Rahm hopped on a call with a small handful of reporters that afternoon to explain his decision. That’s where he said, somewhat earnestly, that he “hasn’t really thought about” his decision’s long-term effects. Those types of answers, he said, would have to wait for the future.

Well, here we are.

It is May 2026. It is two years, five months and five days later. It is the week of the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

And what has Rahm learned since making his decision to jump to LIV?

“That is for me to know,” Rahm said Tuesday, nodding at nothing, “and that’s about that.”

Once LIV’s biggest signing, the Spanish star has come to look and sound like a large man on a small island. Having decided to pass on a one-time lifeline offered by the PGA Tour for players specifically like himself, Rahm could only watch these last few weeks helplessly as LIV’s future began fading from view. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is walking away from a tour it poured billions of dollars into, including a reported $300 million for Rahm. In the absence of what was once believed to be unlimited funding, both the league and its players are face-to-face with a new reality.

Last week, during a LIV press conference in Virginia, Rahm said he still believes in the league and hopes new investors arise. He did so while also saying that he has “several years left” on his contract, doesn’t “see any way out,” and that CEO Scott O’Neill has “a lot of hard work to do.”

Not to be indelicate about it, but Rahm has to know things have backfired. That his place in the game is not what it should be. That his decision to become wealthier beyond his wildest dreams came with competitive consequences — consequences that those against whom he measures himself are not dealing with.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler? They’re enjoying life on a PGA Tour that’s been reshaped and restructured and infused with loads of money, mostly thanks to LIV’s disruption.

DeChambeau? He’s already said he can blissfully exist playing YouTube golf, and, you know what, it’s worth believing him.

And Rahm? The idea of a player of his caliber serving as Capitán General of a ghost ship golf tour is as perplexing as it is plausible. With Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed returning to the PGA Tour and future funds dried up, LIV carries little resemblance to what Rahm signed up for. Back then, LIV’s roster claimed seven of golf’s prior 14 majors, including Rahm’s 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters wins. Heading into this week, LIV is 1-of-8 over the last two years.

It was long theorized that much of the motivation for Rahm’s initial jump to LIV was that he might be a one-man domino to either bring the PGA Tour and LIV together or make LIV strong enough to become profitable. This, the thought went, was Rahm staking his claim as the biggest name in the game. Subtlety never their strong suit, LIV leaned into the idea, outfitting Rahm in a literal black hat and matching letterman’s jacket for his heel turn.

But more than two years later, the domino is still standing, and Rahm can sometimes feel like an afterthought among the best players in the world.

Last year’s PGA Championship served as a reminder of what could, or should, be. After starting Sunday’s final round five shots behind Scheffler, Rahm picked Quail Hollow apart, charging to a share of the lead early in the back nine and detonating cheers that rose over the din of all PGA Tour vs LIV chatter.

Rahm heard it, and he felt it, and, to this day, yearns for it.

“When I made that birdie putt on 11 and I hit those good shots on 12 and 13 and almost made the putt on 13, the support from the crowd and the cheering from the crowd was what made it so much fun,” Rahm said Tuesday morning at Aronimink, where he’ll make his 10th career appearance in the PGA. “It was a realization of having such support from the crowd and playing good golf that made me realize, in a way, how I’m truly perceived from the public, as opposed to what I read sometimes.”

Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are LIV Golf’s last two big stars. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

It’s hard to imagine any scenario where Rahm isn’t bothered by where he stands. Scottie is the best player in the world. Rory is Rory. Bryson is the needle.

So what’s Rahm?

He was asked on Tuesday how cognizant he is regarding his place among the world’s best.

“I think as players, we know we usually have a fairly good assessment of where we stand,” Rahm said. “I don’t really necessarily need a ranking to tell me where I’m at or where I feel like I’m at.”

That’s good, because, as a result of LIV’s limited opportunities to earn world ranking points, Rahm currently ranks 20th in the Official World Golf Rankings, one spot behind Jacob Bridgeman, who has made the cut in fewer majors (one) than Rahm has won. Not only is Rahm not in the top five, but he’s also not even a top-five European player. He’s well down the ladder from McIlroy (2), Matt Fitzpatrick (4), Tommy Fleetwood (6), Justin Rose (7), Robert MacIntyre (12), Sepp Straka (13), Ludvig Aberg (15) and Alex Noren (18). Noren, at 43, has two career top-10s in 41 major appearances and has never won a PGA Tour event.

Everyone believes Rahm is better than nearly all of these players. What’s dwindled are his chances to prove it.

That’s a reality of his own making, one he’ll have to continue to accept.