Jon Rham, fourth player in the world ranking, has confessed in Getxo (Bizkaia), on a return home, that “nothing” has “changed” with the successes and that he is still “a small town boy, from Barrika, from here next door”. The great Spanish golfer recognizes that “likes the pressure” because it “motivates” him and makes him bring out his “best golf”.
“I love being in that situation, I see it as similar to me having the penalty in the last few minutes. I like it, I’ve always liked the pressure. It motivates me and makes me play my best golf. In those decisive moments I only see the ball and the hole”, said the Biscayan in an appearance before the media in a room at the Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri, his “favorite” course and his home, sportingly speaking.
Accompanied by his father, Edorta, and José Miguel Barrenechea ‘Jota’, from Jon’s team in Spain, Rahm said he was “proud” to have several dozen media and “grateful” for the “following” he has “in Spain”.
“That this room is full is a source of pride for me. It is a pride to know that I have so much transcendence in Spain. That means that there are expectations and if you believe in me, how can I not believe too?” he reflected, also hopeful that his time at home will bring him the benefits of this course. “Last year I was there for a month and I played the way I played,” he recalled his good start to 2017.
Although it has been a good year, “the worst” for Rahm has been his “his game in the (four) big” tournaments. “At the Masters I arrived tired and at all the majors I arrived after doing something important and I didn’t take it as well as I could have. With more experience I hope to do better,” he said.
He also recalled that the first thing he wanted to be when he grew up “was an Athletic goalkeeper”, of whose team he is such a staunch supporter that he has in his house in Arizona “the red and white flag” “in the middle of the trophies because it is the most important thing”.
For this reason, he wished more than predicted a “1-0” for Saturday’s Athletic-Real Madrid game at San Mamés. “Against Madrid, 1-0 is good enough for all of us”, he agreed with the journalists, all aware of the delicate moment of the Bilbao team.
Although he also revealed that “since I was 13 years old”, since I was playing golf more seriously, what I wanted to be was a “professional golfer.
About his career, he has assured that in his first year as a professional he has achieved “more than I thought” and for 2018, he has been especially excited about “the Ryder” Cup and “more the Ryder in Paris”.
In this regard, he recalled that he played in the capital of France in 2009 at the U-16 European Championship and that, seeing “posters” promoting the event, he said “I’m going to play there”. “If it happens it would be something very special for me,” he said.
Rahm has assured that “sportingly” the year 2017 has been “the best” of his “life”. “The summary is very good. I have accomplished much more than what I set out to do. As a first year it has surprised me, not only I did not expect it, but I have achieved much more than I expected. It is not normal for someone who plays in the Tour to do what I have done in the first year. If you told me before that I was going to achieve what I did a few years ago I would have told you that you were crazy,” he said.
Even so, he has set as “a goal” in the medium term “to be number 1 in the world”, something he sees “much closer than 10 years ago”, when he first got excited about it. But he considers it “very difficult because great players like Phil Mickelson or Sergio (Garcia) have not arrived”.
“Now I have three players ahead of me with a lot of quality and also many behind me. The good thing is that I have just started, but it is a goal,” he said.
Other wishes he has verbalized are that “hopefully Bizkaia will have a European Tour tournament” in the future and that there will be some sort of tournament to help young players “have what I didn’t have”.
He also advanced for 2018, which he assumed should almost give him “vertigo” for what he achieved in 2017, a similar calendar” to this year and that Tim Mickelson will no longer be his manager, as he will continue to caddy for his brother Phil. A double task with which now the Spanish golfer did not feel “very comfortable”.
To Phil, in any case, he is grateful that before he turned pro he already said publicly on television that Jon was “Top 10 in the World material”.
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