Once upon a time, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler were locked in a thrilling tug-of-war for the World No. 1 ranking, trading places week after week in a rivalry that captivated golf fans. That was before Rahm made a seismic move to LIV Golf at the end of 2023—a decision that has since reshaped his career trajectory and left him watching from a distance as Scheffler dominates the game.

It all came to a head at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Scheffler fired a brilliant Sunday 65, a late charge that ultimately fell just short of catching Brooks Koepka for the win. But the runner-up finish came with a silver lining: Scheffler leapfrogged Rahm to reclaim the World No. 1 spot. He hasn't looked back since.

For Rahm, the view from outside the top spot is a stark reminder of how quickly fortunes can change in golf. The Spanish star, who once battled Scheffler shot-for-shot atop the rankings, now finds himself pondering an alternate path—one that didn't involve leaving the PGA Tour for the lucrative, yet uncertain, world of LIV Golf.

Speaking on Tuesday, Rahm dismissed the idea that his departure was a calculated move to force a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV. "I was never thinking that I was going to be any sort of weight that would tip the scales to make things come together," he said firmly. "That was never an argument in my mind."

Rahm, known for his fierce competitiveness and stoic demeanor, prefers not to dwell on the past. Whether it's a missed putt or a life-altering career decision, he refuses to second-guess himself. "I've made a lot of decisions in my life, and I've never gone back thinking, 'Oh, had I known this again, I would do 'x' and 'y' different,'" he explained. "If I lived my life like that as a golfer, I would be a very pessimistic person."

Still, the contrast is hard to ignore. Just three years ago, Rahm and Scheffler were trading the No. 1 ranking like a hot potato. Scheffler would win the Phoenix Open—Rahm finishing third—to take the top spot, only for Rahm to snatch it back a week later at Riviera. Then Scheffler would win The Players Championship and reclaim the throne, holding it for a month before Rahm surged ahead again.

Now, with LIV Golf's future clouded by reports that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is pulling its financial backing, Rahm's decision looks increasingly risky. But the two-time major winner isn't interested in what-ifs. "We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," he said. "All we can do is learn from things that happen in the past, good and bad. To speculate on what could have been different doesn't really make much sense."

For fans who remember the Rahm-Scheffler rivalry at its peak, it's a reminder of how quickly the landscape of professional golf can shift—and how one decision can change everything.