The third edition of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters-Sergio Garcia Foundation, to be held from October 19 to 22 with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Andalusian Government, will offer, among other great attractions, the professional debut of Jon Rahm in Spain. The young Basque, is starring in an amazing season in his first year as a professional, with victories in the PGA Tour, the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego and on the European Tour, the Dubai Duty Free Open in Ireland by six strokes ahead, belonging to the Rolex Series. He is the fifth player in the world and also in the FedExCup, and third in the Race to Dubai, achievements only within reach of an outstanding player.
Jon (Barrika, Vizcaya 10/11/1994) is impatient to play the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, a date marked in red in his calendar. “I’m really looking forward to the tournament to play in front of the Spanish public, it’s going to be a very special week. I encourage them to come and support us and watch us play, nobody should miss it, we’re all going to be there and if the public has fun, we’ll have fun too” -he assures.
“After the Irish Open I went to train at Valderrama and when I teed off on one I felt a lot of joy. The first time I played the course was five years ago when I came with the national team to the Sotogrande Cup. It was not the same feeling; I was a different player then than I am now. I remember that it blew a hurricane of care.
“Valderrama is one of the best layouts I’ve ever seen, visually it’s beautiful and beautifully manicured. The courses don’t need to be 10,000 meters long to be demanding. I find Valderrama a lot of fun, it makes you think and play all kinds of shots and, if you miss, you can play it. It keeps you on your toes.
Jon was only two years old when the Ryder Cup was held at Valderrama and his life was then as far away from golf as Barrika (Biscay) and San Roque (Cadiz). But the first connection of the Rahm family with this sport had something to do with that week in September 1997. Jon’s father, Edorta, says: “I have a group of friends from Bilbao with whom I play a lot of sport, we played paddle tennis, skied, etc. Two of them went to the Ryder Cup thanks to an invitation and they came back amazed, they had no idea about golf but they said it was very exciting. Two years later, Eduardo Celles opened his golf school in Bilbao and we signed up. In 2003 my wife, Angela, and my sons Jon and Eriz started playing.
The family got hooked on golf, so much so that every year they would set aside a week’s vacation to go to Valderrama to enjoy the Volvo Masters. Jon keeps those childhood memories very much alive, when the trophies he collected on the golf course were the autographs of his idols.
“On Thursday of the Volvo Masters in 2007 I went to Valderrama for the first time with my father,” recalls Jon, “As soon as we entered through the entrance to hole seven we saw Thomas Björn, then we went to hole one to see Poulter and Sergio tee off, followed Poulter who hit a shot on hole one and from there to hole three where Justin Rose made a basket, but I escaped from my “aita” and only saw him myself. We went back to the fourth with Poulter and on the fifth we stayed to see Colin Montgomerie. The next thing I remember is the 17th hole, which, by the way, reminds me of the 15th at Augusta without being downhill. The 17th is a great hole. The fairway is narrow, you have to hit a great drive and on the second shot you start to tremble.
“On the 18th green I got my polo shirt signed by Nick Dougherty, Paul Casey and “Pisha”, who I don’t think he remembers. Harrington had won the British Open that year and I asked him for the cap but he said he couldn’t give it to me. I took no gloves, no caps, no balls, nothing, just about six autographs on the polo. From there we went to the putting green and to the driving range to watch more golf.”
Ten years after getting those autographs, Jon will return to Valderrama as one of the best players in the world and very proud to play his first professional tournament in Spain. “From that kid who first went to Valderrama in 2007 everything remains, I still have the same ambition and the same dreams but I am lucky that dreams are coming true. Although, what is happening to me this year… not even Steven Spielberg would have dreamed of it in his best films. To win the way I won at Torrey Pines, to win the way I did in Ireland… no, that doesn’t even happen in the best dreams”.
Edorta Rahm shares that feeling: “I never imagined Jon would go so far and so fast. You dream that your son can get there but you try to be realistic, I’ve seen many who have fallen by the wayside, hence our insistence that he finish his studies. But in 2015, when I went with Eduardo Celles to the Phoenix Open (PGA Tour) and Jon finished fifth -he was invited as World Champion-, that’s when I started to think that the dream was coming true.
“We will go to the Andalucía Valderrama Masters with the whole family, friends, the club…. We are already preparing the trip with great enthusiasm, it will be a great tournament,” adds Edorta Rahm.
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