Jon Rahm believes Joaquin Niemann's record round of 59 on the opening round of LIV Golf Mayakoba is proof that there is plenty of competition on the Saudi-backed competition.
The Spaniard became the latest big-name golfer to depart the PGA Tour for LIV at the end of last year in a deal worth a reported £450million.
His departure was yet another blow to the PGA Tour with more and more major winners making the switch.
Critics of LIV Golf have cited a lack of competition on the rival tour as one of many reasons they're not tuning in to watch.
Jon Rahm has hit back at LIV Golf's haters
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But the top of the leaderboard after the first round in Mexico featured household names such as Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Rahm and Dustin Johnson.
It was Niemann who stole the show in the end, shooting 12-under par to finish with a round of 59.
When asked what it was like competing on a tour event with the likes of Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, Rahm pointed to Niemann's performance as proof there is plenty of competition in LIV.
"It's good to see that Cam's [Smith] putting hasn't changed and his ability to get up and down," Rahm said.
"But today is all about Joaquin right?
"Clearly it shows that, you know, competition is not lacking here."
Most of the attention leading into the new LIV Golf season has been on Rahm given his previous remarks about the tour.
It was only this week that his Legion XIII team was confirmed with Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent joining him.
But Rahm was just happy to get back out on the course for the first time since joining LIV and he enjoyed his new environment.
Jon Rahm was glad to get back down to playing golf
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He added: "I think golf was in theory going to become the safe haven away from everything else.
"While things could be a bit messy at one point trying to find a team, the golf course is always the place I feel control to a certain extent.
"With all the other stresses with having a team and everything pretty much gone it was a lot easier to just come out here and perform.
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Tyrrell Hatton joined Jon Rahm's team this week
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"The last hurdle was trying to figure out how the warm-up was going to affect me with the shotgun.
"It was quite fun. The atmosphere is clearly very different and I think it shows.
"I feel very relaxed out there. It's a little bit similar to how I play at home with my buddies with music on the cart.
"It was pretty much a perfect day."
