The LIV Golfer ‘More Talented Than Rahm’ And Labelled A Future Major Champion Months Into College Career

A college which has helped to produce world-class golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Paul Casey knows an elite player when it sees one.

So after coaches and teammates at Arizona State University labelled David Puig as a future Major winner within the first three months of the Spaniard stepping on campus in 2020, it might prove wise to believe the hype.

The man born in La Garriga near Barcelona, Spain had been winning long before he moved over to America. Count victories at the 2016 Catalonia U18 Championship, the 2018 Spanish U18 International and 2018 Spanish U18 Championship as well as a team success at the 2018 European Boys Amateur Championship.

That kind of triumphant habit only continued with the support of ASU behind him, with three college victories in just two seasons before Puig opted to turn pro and join the LIV Golf League in the latter half of 2022.

It's fair to say that expectations - at least in relation to anyone associated with ASU - are high surrounding Puig, with some chatter among the school's other graduates that he is actually more talented than two-time Major winner and 2024 LIV individual champion, Rahm.

Current ASU associate head coach Thomas Sutton, who arrived just a couple of months before Puig departed, revealed that from what little he saw - combined with what others had told him - Puig's ability might outweigh that of almost every other Sun Devil, past or present.

Asked by Golf Monthly just how much potential Sutton believes Puig possesses, the coach replied: "There's a story. This was before I got here, but he came to college and when he plays well, he wins. It's just that simple. And there is something to be said about that. There's different kind of players that play well all the time, but when he plays well, he just seems to win the tournament.

"They thought he was a major winner within three months of him being here, they're like, "Okay, this guy is next level." We have alums that are on the PGA Tour that say that he is more talented than Rahm. I mean, that is a crazy thing to say because Rahm is arguably the best or second best player in the world.

"But when you just watch their games, you're like, I mean, this guy has kind of got everything. He's got 190 ball speed. He putts the ass off the ball. His chipping is the best in the world. I mean, you're just like, you're putting all these things together - you're going to win.

"He comes around here, he's really close with a lot of our guys on our team, and you just sit there and watch him hit balls and you're like, 'wow!'

"And I mean, he's a top-80 player in the world with just DP World Tour and Asian Tour starts. I mean, that never happens. There's not many people who have gone to LIV and their world ranking has gone like this [upwards]. I mean, most guys are kind of experiencing the opposite."

While Puig is not currently a habitant of the world's top-80, Sutton's point about his trajectory is true. Having started life as a pro in 2022 as World No.1144, the Spaniard has made significant strides ever since, first breaking into the top-100 after a T4th result at the DP World Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last year and going on to represent Spain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Two wins on the Asian Tour have done nothing to harm his upwards momentum, either, with success at the 2023 International Series Singapore and the 2024 Malaysian Open. That, coupled with his regular team success as part of Torque and then Fireballs GC, suggests ASU's feeling about their man could well be true.

But the Sun Devils coach insists that it's not just Puig who possesses the consistent quality needed to be successful on tour, there is another unsung hero who recently broke through at the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship.

Sutton said: "I think he [Puig] might be one of the top guys, but on the other side, you have a guy like Kevin Yu who is on the PGA Tour. And I mean, if you look in the top-20 in almost every leaderboard, you're going to see his name.

"You come watch him hit balls and he's never misses - three or four time All-American as well. So, it's hard to say "you're for sure the best", but it'd be hard to put someone way ahead of [Puig]. That's for sure."