Jon Rahm is going through one of the best moments of his career. You just have to refer to the results he has been getting since the Fedex Cup playoffs began in August last year. Since then, he has eight ‘top 10’ finishes in nine tournaments and three victories in the last five. According to the old world ranking system, he should be in second position and this week he would fight for first, but for now he has to settle for being fourth.
Jon Rahm, statements
This week he has a new opportunity to shine in an event in which he starts as one of the clear favourites, the American Express, which takes place on three different courses (Pete Dye Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club) and which on Saturday he will carry out his screening to leave the field at 65 players. The one from ‘León de Barrika’ already won this event in 2018, when it was called the CareerBuilder Challenge. There will be, in addition to ‘Rahmbo’, other prominent names such as Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris or Tom Kim. Hours before the start, the Biscayan spoke to the Spanish press.
Jon began by referring to the upcoming Ryder Cup in Rome and the hypothetical participation of Sergio García, with whom he formed the best couple in Europe in the last edition. “I have spoken with Sergio in this time, it is a pity that we do not know if he can qualify. I would love to play with him again and I have told Luke Donald [the captain]. I have told him to put us in the four games together if Sergio goes, but it’s not in my hands”, explained the Basque. Rahm also offered a detail that makes him doubt Garcia’s presence: “Things don’t look good, especially when I saw that the Ryder account didn’t congratulate Sergio on his birthday and others did. It seems they are turning the page.” .
Regarding the LIV players being able to play the Augusta Masters, the Spanish golfer said: “I thought it would be possible. If the ‘majors’ said that the LIV players weren’t going, where there are eight winners, it would have been a sign of that the PGA would have tried to block these tournaments in that sense, which we didn’t expect.”
What better to win this year? This is not a new question for Jon, but it was very clear last term that his sights were on St. Andrews. Now, he is motivated by several options: “Whoever comes. I have a certain internal conflict because I would like to win two of the same [US Open], also be the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters or the first to win a PGA Championship. Rafa Nadal has us badly used to having won 22 grand, because that doesn’t happen in golf”.
The ‘Lion of Barrika’ also agrees that the best Jon has returned: “Regarding my performance, from January to August of last year I didn’t play as well as before, but since then I have recovered my best level”. What’s more, Rahm considers that at the moment even a bad shot is not so noticeable in his final result: “I have confidence in my swing, I feel it more fluid than in previous months. For example, in Dubai I hit some horrible shots, but they are Little things and my swing mechanics keep me consistent, even if I don’t play my best game.”
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