It is coming up for nine years since Jon Rahm turned pro. He has risen up the rankings at breakneck speed. He has been to world No 1, won two majors, become a Ryder Cup hero, and emerged as such a vital figure to the sport that his money-spinning defection to a rebel tour once seemed like it might be the reason that peace might finally break out in golf.
He has even won four trophies in Dubai before – three times at the DP World Tour Championship, as well as the overall Race to Dubai title in 2019.
He only turned 30 in November, but it is fair to say the Spaniard has been there, done that, got the green jacket.
All of which makes it difficult to compute that Rahm will be making his debut at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this week. The fact that one of Europe’s modern greats has never played one of its flagship events is an anomaly, to say the least.
Two days out from the 36th running of the Classic, Rahm had yet to play a full 18 holes at the Majlis Course. He played the front nine for the first time on Monday, the back nine on Tuesday, and is planning to finally get the full set when he features in the Pro Am on Wednesday.
And yet, despite the last-minute cramming and his unfamiliarity with the DP World Tour as a whole, having switched to LIV Golf last year, it is safe to assume Rahm might be a contender for the Dallah Trophy come Sunday evening.
“It’s a tournament I’ve wanted to play,” Rahm said. “There’s a lot of history in this event. There's a lot of great champions in this event. It’s a very, very [high] quality championship.
“I love the city. I love coming here. Any chance I get to come to a tournament and play this event and come to the city, to me, it’s a good opportunity.
“It’s a good way to start the year. We don’t have our first LIV event until the first week of February. That’s quite a bit of time off. So being able to play an event before, it is nice to get the competition feeling going.”
It is a testament to the field assembled at the Classic that Rahm’s debut is not necessarily the major story ahead of Thursday’s start.
Rory McIlroy will be back to attempt to complete a hat-trick of Classic titles, and become the first to win five in total.
There are stars everywhere you look, like Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and the Hojgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, as well as past major champions Padraig Harrington, Patrick Reed, Adam Scott and Jimmy Walker.
But Rahm’s presence in Dubai – conspicuously suited and booted as he is in his LIV livery – certainly adds an extra layer of intrigue.
Details of that peace deal between LIV and the establishment remain sparse. Rahm, clearly, is all in with his employers, terming it “as competitive as pretty much any other tour” and “an environment in which you can grow very rapidly”.
But he still wants to be part of the old gang, too. Rahm acknowledged he will seldom be spotted on the DP World Tour again this season because of his LIV commitments. He says his trip to the Majlis this week is partly out of necessity, so he can factor in enough events to keep his tour membership.
He is set on being part of Europe’s Ryder Cup side in September, but that could be dependent on his appeal over the sanction imposed on him for joining LIV.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m hoping they don't try to settle the appeal before the Ryder Cup,” Rahm said. “I don't think that would be good for anybody. But my plan is to be at Bethpage.”
Rahm says he is not the only person who has grown frustrated at the lack of progress in discussions between the tours about what the future of golf will look like. He does, though, think the sport is in the midst of a “golden era”.
“I think a lot of us would say that when that framework agreement [between LIV and the PGA Tour] was done over a year and a half ago, things would be further along at this point,” he said.
“It’s really hard to know what goes on behind closed doors, and it’s up to people much higher up than me. I don't know what their vision is or what they are expecting out of it.
“I think so many of us want some kind of resolution to come together and get the best product possible for the consumer, which is what I think we’re still in a position to do.
“I think we're living in a golden era right now for golf where the possibilities are endless. A big tour in Europe and worldwide and a massive tour, the PGA Tour, and you have another big product with LIV, and now you're even adding the TGL [a new simulated league founded by McIlroy and Tiger Woods]. When it comes to golf, the possibilities are there right now.
“I think with the right minds put together, you can end up with a product, and I've been saying this all along, that could put golf at a different level in the world of sport.”
