As the two Spanish players currently most in winning form, Jon Rahm and Sergio García have been attracting global headlines over the past few days. In the case of the former… focusing on how much of his raw talent and “Seve-like” passion he will be able to channel into future success after winning his first US PGA Tour title in just his 12th start as a pro. And the latter… whether or not he can finally win a major in 2017.
A feature in Golf World recalled representations on behalf of Rahm by Ricardo Relinque (director of U.S. college placement and player development for the Royal Spanish Golf Federation). Tim Mickelson needed a player to fill out his roster on the Arizona State golf team, and Relinque believed Rahm was his man.
“With Jon, it seemed like the timing was perfect,” said Relinque. “I called Tim up about a special kid, and he took a chance.”
Relinque had been following Rahm since his win in the 2010 Spanish Junior Boys. “But it wasn’t the playing record that turned Mickelson on to Rahm,” reported Golf World, “it was the Seve-like qualities that Relinque saw in the 17-year-old from the small town of Barrika (population 1,500) in the Basque region of Spain.”
“I got extremely lucky,” said Mickelson. “Ricardo called telling me there was this kid living in Madrid that wants to take a gap year and then go to college in the United States. I Google-searched the name, saw the results and said, ‘Shoot, we’ve got the money for the fall.’ So I called Jon and said, ‘Love to have you. Come on now.’ He emails me back and says, ‘Okay, I’m in.’ That was the extent of the recruiting process of Jon Rahm. It was the shortest, easiest one I’ve done.”
Rahm is the only player Mickelson ever offered a scholarship without seeing him in person. At 17, Rahm barely spoke English and had to learn to control his emotions, according to Golf World. After Rahm lost his temper and broke a kickstand on his bag in his first college tournament, Mickelson had him run up and down the 56 steps of the upper bowl at Sun Devil Stadium as penance. “He always had the fire,” Mickelson said, “but he learned how to keep it in check.”
Continued the magazine, “The combination of a new culture, moving to a campus with 33 times more people than his home town and the language barrier in the giant classrooms made for a rough first semester.” The turning point came at ASU’s third tournament, the Pac-12 Preview at Pumpkin Ridge.
“I remember going to our assistant coach, Michael Peters, and saying, ‘This kid is not going to make it,’’’ Mickelson said. “‘He’s not going to make it in school, and he’s not playing well. Who are we going to replace him with next year?’”
After an opening-round 77, Rahm told Mickelson, “Don’t worry, I feel good.” The last two rounds he shot 64-65 to finish second and save his scholarship. Two events later, Rahm won the first of 11 college tournaments, a career total that’s second in ASU history behind only the 16 from Phil Mickelson, Tim’s older brother.
Rahm went on to win the Jack Nicklaus Award and become the only two-time winner of the Ben Hogan Award for college golf’s top player, as well as receive the McCormack Medal given to the top-ranked amateur golfer in the world. In May 2016, Rahm graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications, calling it his biggest accomplishment. He was, however, proudest of “the person I’ve become in those four years… I was pretty immature when I got there. I learned English, and I developed to be a much better person who can take care of himself right now.”
A month later, Rahm was the low amateur with a joint 23rd finish at the U.S. Open, in his first event after turning pro he finished third at the Quicken Loans National, and he followed that with a share of second at the RBC Canadian Open which secured his PGA Tour card for the 2016-2017 season.
Grand Slam on the Next Horizon for Sergio?
As for García, Jaime Diaz (also writing in Golf World) admitted he had previously doubted the Spaniard would win a Grand Slam title. “I’ve been in the ‘never will’ camp for about a decade, a subscriber to a litany of criticisms that start with the mechanical (can’t putt) but quickly escalate to the personal (immature, excuse-making, sulking, lacking heart). They all added up to the feeling that García couldn’t make the big shot, would make the mistake, would somehow manage to do just enough to come up short.
“Of course, García, now 37, with 12 top-five finishes in 73 career majors (including three seconds), is the kind of talent who never stops getting punished for not fulfilling huge early expectations. Having seen how good he was as a teenager (he won the Irish Open at 19), not being able to handle Sunday Grand Slam heat seemed like a sin against nature that required appropriate outrage. Worse, the Spaniard in the past several years seemed to be getting more fragile under pressure.”
Now, wrote Diaz, “Garcia seemed rejuvenated in Dubai, his first event of 2017, and he put on a clinic of controlled power golf… Suddenly, even after 26 official worldwide victories, it was as if El Niño had finally learned the right way to win. And it was the reminder of a couple of truths. It’s prodigies who take the longest to grow up and mature. And, it’s a long journey in golf. It’s why I’m still not ready to write off Tiger Woods. And it’s why we might still see the best of El Niño.
“Long popular among his playing peers, Garcia has also grown more personable with the world at large. A key might be his impending marriage to Angela Akins, a former University of Texas golfer.
“The road is smoother, Garcia has learned, with as little baggage as possible. ‘I mean, it’s simple,’ he said. ‘When I get to Augusta, U.S. Open, the British Open, PGA, I just want to do the best I can. Just like I try any other week.’ Easier said than done. But if Garcia can try the way he did at Dubai, he’s finally going to win one.”
