OLIVER HOLT: From king of the world to LIV Golf obscurity… lukewarm, bitter and uninspired Jon Rahm played The Masters like a man who knows he’s made a terrible mistake

You may not know this, but Jon Rahm’s team in the LIV Golf Series is called Legion XIII. It makes it sound a bit like he’s one of the outriders in a downfall. Which he probably is regarding the split that separates golf.

Anyway, it’s called Legion XIII for the perfectly logical reason that Rahm’s defection to the breakaway tour at the end of last year meant the creation of a 13th LIV team with Rahm at the helm. Thirteen. Unfortunate for some.

Not unfortunate considering the money Rahm took to sign with LIV, of course.

Having spoken out against the Saudi-backed franchise in the past, he decided to take £450m. He thought about securing his family’s future, probably because he had not already earned enough from the sport.

But there’s also a price for what Rahm did, and as he walked to the first tee at Augusta National just before noon on a gloriously sunny day in Georgia, there was an unmistakable sense that he was beginning to pay it.

As Rahm, 29, stood staring down the first fairway that plunges into a valley and then climbs the hillside beyond, he knew this was his last day as the reigning Masters champion and that a return to LIV Golf’s gilded obscurity stretches out. infront of him.

He played his last round wearing the air of a man who is beginning to realize that he has made a terrible mistake. He was the king of the world, and all of golf stretched out before him, waiting to be conquered. And then he sabotaged it all.

He destroyed his legacy by turning his back on mainstream golf at the height of his powers and joining a tour with a 54-hole format where the lack of intensity seems to have left Rahm singularly unprepared for a return to the demands of more competitive golf .

His move to LIV has also changed the perception of him. It has damaged his image and dampened his popularity.

When he got to the first green yesterday, he was greeted by the sight of a half-empty grandstand.

It didn’t feel like we were watching the reigning Masters champion. It felt like we were watching a guy blow it at his peak.

The same stands are packed when Rory McIlroy plays in front of them. And Tiger Woods. And Scottie Scheffler.

But not Rahm. Not anymore. His popularity has declined.

“He’s been playing resort courses in shorts for the last few months and hasn’t really been tested yet,” three-time Masters winner Sir Nick Faldo said on the eve of the tournament.

‘Rahm is a hell of a player, but he’s going to have to make a little effort to step it up and get the right intensity. Whether he’s just not quite sharp enough because he hasn’t tested himself very much, we’ll have to wait and see.’

Faldo’s misgivings were quickly confirmed. To no one’s surprise, it turns out that the highlight of Rahm’s week at Augusta was the Champions’ Dinner he hosted in the clubhouse on Tuesday night.

He chose the menu and served beautiful Basque specialties. The rest of the week he served offal.

He is not a demonstrative man at the best of times, but many noticed during the four days of the tournament that his demeanor was even more joyless and sullen than usual.

He is not the first to struggle with the mantle of winning the Masters, but his defense of his title was particularly lukewarm, bitter and uninspired.

Most of the damage was done with a second-round four-over-par 76, and he raised eyebrows by blaming the stormy conditions and suggesting he believed Augusta National should have stopped play because of the disruption the weather caused.

But the truth is Rahm didn’t shoot a single round under par all week. Even he would have had a hard time blaming the weather for all of them. On Sunday he shot 76 again. The sky was blue and the day was warm and still.

Maybe it wasn’t the conditions that caused the problems for Rahm’s game after all.

He saved his worst round of the week for last. He started reasonably but then dropped four shots in four holes around the turn, letting his club fall out of his hands after a particularly poor tee shot. He double-bogeyed the 10th after a bump-and-run chip that climbed the slope toward the green and then rolled back down it again.

He double-bogeyed the 16th after leaving his tee shot short and watching it roll down the bank in front of the green and bounce into the pond.

He finished with two pars and a score of nine over. It was his worst performance ever in the Masters.

Before this year, before this title defense, his worst cumulative total in the tournament was 292. This year it was 297. So now it’s back to Legion XIII and its march of doom. The next stop for LIV Golf is the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide at the end of the month.

Rahm has already admitted he misses some of the events he used to play on the PGA Tour, but now he’s returning to a series that sells itself as golf, but louder.

It doesn’t seem to fit Rahm’s ethos or his personality, but he’s stuck with it now. The overwhelming feeling of seeing him bow out as Masters champion was sad that it has come to this. He looked and played like a man shrunken. A man who has reduced himself to a paycheck.

Rahm finished with the same total as Jose Maria Olazabal this year. Olazabal is one of the three other Spaniards to have won the Masters and is a legend of the game. Almost 30 years Rahm’s senior, he is also regarded with almost universal respect.

Maybe one day Rahm will learn that no amount of money can buy you that.