Jon Rahm does not need many external reinforcements for his bombproof morale, but he certainly arrives at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters – Sergio García Foundation, a tournament that takes place from June 27 to 30, backed by the great third place obtained in the recent U. S. Open held at the beautiful Pebble Beach course. Rahm changes the Californian coastal course for the no less spectacular fairways of Real Club Valderrama, where in 2017 he made his professional debut on Spanish soil, and will accompany the host, Sergio García, as one of the biggest attractions of the tournament.
Rahm continues to take steps, or rather strides if we take the metaphor to the physical terrain and take into account his imposing presence, in his meteoric career as a professional and there are already four top ten accumulated in major tournaments in three years as a professional. Previously, the Basque golfer had dazzled in his career as an amateur in Spain and the United States, culminating with his appointment as best college player (receiving the Ben Hogan Award) in 2015 and 2016, his individual triumph in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, knocking a certain Jack Nicklaus out of the record book by achieving the lowest result in this competition, and his 60 weeks as number one in the amateur world, also a record in this ranking.
Then came his first dabbling in the professional field, and his great fifth place in Phoenix, the PGA Tour and European Tour cards obtained on the fast track, his first titles (Farmers Insurance Open, Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, DP World Tour Championship) and the flirtation with the world number one, to which he was on the verge of accessing at the beginning of 2018. The symbolic and spectacular victory at the Spanish Open, his other international triumphs and his participation in the 2018 Ryder Cup played in France round off a record whose statistics overwhelm.
In 80 tournaments against professional opponents since his debut at the 2015 Phoenix Open, Jon Rahm has accumulated seven wins and 37 top ten finishes (i.e., he makes it 46.25% of the time). If we focus on the European Tour, he has achieved three wins and seven top ten finishes in the nine regular tournaments he has played (not counting majors or WGC tournaments). All these figures translate into a statistic that is no less convincing: he has been the best Spaniard in the world ranking for 21 months.
With this track record, the player from Barrika has fewer and fewer notches to mark on the handle of his putter, but it can be assumed that one of them is to sign a good tournament at Valderrama, home of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters and club that is at the origin of Jon’s golf career. Jon’s father, Edorta, told about it two years ago.
“I have a group of friends from Bilbao with whom I do a lot of sports, we used to play paddle tennis, ski, etc. Two of them went to the Ryder Cup thanks to an invitation and 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.
Already with the poison of golf in his blood, Rahm visited Valderrama for the first time in 2007 and had the opportunity to follow closely in the Volvo Masters that year to players with whom he now fights epic duels or even has shared locker room and field in the Ryder Cup: Sergio García, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Thomas Björn… Later he had the opportunity to play the course as an amateur, when he visited Valderrama when he went with the national team to the Sotogrande Cup, and 2017 saw his debut as a professional on Spanish soil in the then called Andalucía Valderrama Masters.
“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 take a gamble. It keeps you on your toes,” said Jon, “I love the classic courses where you have to use different strategies. It’s golf in its purest form.
In 2019, and sharing the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters headliner with Sergio García, he wants to leave behind that missed cut two years ago which, as he later explained, was the result of his level of demand.
“It was a mental issue. I knew how much people wanted me to play well and I gave too much importance to each shot without playing as fluid as I usually play. Mentally I was not fine because I imposed on myself the responsibility to play well,” said Rahm.
With the recent memory of his great role in the U. S. Open, Rahm returns to Valderrama with the same illusion of that boy who saw his sporting heroes up close for the first time.
“From that kid who went to Valderrama for the first time in 2007 everything remains. I still have the same ambition and the same dreams, but I’m lucky that the dreams are coming true.”
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters – Sergio García Foundation returned to the European Tour calendar in 2017 thanks to the support of the Junta de Andalucía and the Sergio García Foundation. The addition of Estrella Damm, the Mediterranean beer brewed with 100% natural ingredients, as title sponsor for the next five years marks a new era for the tournament, which will distribute three million euros in prize money in 2019, one million more than in the previous edition, and will also award three places for the Open Championship to be held this year at Royal Portrush.
Tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters 2019 – Sergio García Foundation are now on sale on the tournament website. Access is free for accompanied children under 12 years old, and there are tickets from 7 € for children under 17 years old and 18 € for adults. More information on the tournament website and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters – Sergio García Foundation, a European Tour tournament valid for the Race to Dubai and held thanks to the essential collaboration of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Regeneración, Justicia y Administración Local de la Junta de Andalucía, as well as being co-financed with European funds and declared an event of exceptional public interest by the Government of Spain. The tournament is also supported by the Diputación de Cádiz, Dubai Duty Free, Rolex, Exterior Plus, La Reserva Club de Sotogrande, Santander Private Banking and Shell. Callaway, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, Grupo Raga, ISDIN, Korporate Technologies Group, Marca, Maui Jim, Hospital QuirónSalud Campo de Gibraltar, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation and Volvo are official suppliers. Also collaborating are 5J, Gadira, Grupo Joly and Varma.
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