Jon Rahm has returned to Augusta National not only as defending Masters champion but, he's hoping, as golf's peacemaker too.
A vocal flagbearer for the US PGA Tour during its now-two-year war with LIV Golf, Rahm shocked the sports world with a reported half-a-billion dollar defection to the Saudi-backed rebel league in January.
Rahm's move had even Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour's unofficial player spokesman and an equally outspoken critic of LIV, swiftly calling for reconciliation talks between golf's two feuding parties.
But in what could prove a win-win outcome for Rahm, the Spaniard on Tuesday said he knew - and hoped - his move to LIV might lead to a unified new global tour.
"I understood my position and I understood that it could be, what I hoped, a step towards some kind of agreement, yes," Rahm said.
"Or more of an agreement or expedited agreement.
"But, unfortunately, it's not up to me. But I would hope it would be something that would help expedite that process.
"But, at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself."
The former world No.1, who now only accrues rankings points in the four majors, disagrees with the notion that he will enter Thursday's first round competitively underdone after only playing five events in 2024, all three-round, no-cut tournaments with a third of the traditional field size.
Even Rahm himself derided the shot-gun start events as "not a golf tournament" before switching over. Now - and how - he's changed his tuned.
"I've had a lot of fun playing in those events," Rahm said on Tuesday.
"The competition's still there ... Yeah, they're smaller fields but you still have to beat some of the best players in the world and you still have to play at the same level you have to play on the PGA Tour to win those events.
"I understand there's less people. I understand the team format's a little different. I understand we're going shotgun and things are a little bit different to how they are in a PGA Tour event.
"But the pressure's there. I want to win as bad as I wanted to win before I moved on to LIV. Going down the stretch when you're in contention is the exact same feelings. That really doesn't change.
"Winning is winning and that's what matters."
