Excitement for the novelty of representing Spain and participating for the first time in the Olympic tournament; overflowing illusion before the start of the competition and the characteristic ambition of those who aspire to the maximum.<\/p>\n
Jon Rahm and David Puig have spread optimism in the official appearance held in the press room of the Golf National, where their presence instills admiration and respect.<\/p>\n
They look at each other, they listen to each other, there is evident complicity between both players, who have traced, with the exception of the age difference, very similar sporting trajectories in their beginnings \u2013 National School, national teams, Arizona State University \u2013 in order to intertwine again their desires around the development of the Olympic competition, which will take place from August 1 to 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sign for both of us to get a medal, why not?\u201d said Jon Rahm while David Puig nodded silently, internalizing an Olympic experience that both are carving out at breakneck speed.<\/p>\n
Neither of them wastes any time: a visit to the Olympic Village and to various places in Paris on the inside day to soak up a personal experience that both of them will be able to take advantage of on the fairways and greens of the Golf National as of August 1st.<\/p>\n
The statements flow with great speed: \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to wear the uniform of Spain again, on Sunday we will wear the red jersey,\u201d says Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe watch as many sports as we can in our spare time, the water polo victory was impressive. We have always loved the Olympics, they are something special and being part of it makes it even more special,\u201d they both share.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing here, representing Spain, still seems impossible to me. In January I was very far from qualifying, but after winning on the Asian Tour I saw that the dream could be possible,\u201d says David Puig before focusing on how well the sensations generated by the outstanding performances at the LIV Golf UK, which concluded last Sunday with Jon Rahm lifting the champion\u2019s trophy and David Puig at the top of the leaderboard, have helped them both.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning increases self-confidence, I come with a lot of positive energy. The not so good feelings of previous weeks are gone, knowing that I can win without playing at one hundred percent\u201d, certified Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n
Comfortable and relaxed before the big battle, the sensations continue to unfold. \u201cI no longer see Jon as the Spanish hero, I see him as a friend who has helped me to play better and reach this level,\u201d says David Puig. <\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully these Olympic Games will help Spanish society as a whole to get to know golf better and enjoy it,\u201d they both say.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a personal level, winning an Olympic medal is the most important thing you can offer your country. It has an enormous weight, on a par with the majors in golf,\u201d said Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many athletes who have worked all their lives to reach a moment like this, like us. That\u2019s why being here is so exciting,\u201d they both reflect.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few people in history can say they have been part of the Olympic Games, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so special for us. Hopefully we can be part of the Spanish success this week and add ours to Spain\u2019s medal tally, it would be amazing,\u201d says Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s more important, winning majors or winning a gold medal? It\u2019s hard to say. Golf\u2019s history with the Olympics is so young right now that it may not have the magnitude or recognition it could have in the future. But winning an Olympic medal representing your country is an honor on par with the majors in golf,\u201d says Jon Rahm. CURIOSITIES OF THE MEN\u2019S OLYMPIC GOLF TOURNAMENT<\/strong> . Four players will participate for the third time in an Olympic Games: New Zealand\u2019s Ryan Fox, Malaysia\u2019s Gavin Green, C.T. Pan (from Chinese Taipei) and Paraguay\u2019s Fabrizio Zanotti.<\/p>\n . Thirty-two golfers will make their Olympic debut, including four of the top 10 in the World Ranking: Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Ludvig \u00c5berg (No. 4), Wyndham Clark (No. 5) and Spain\u2019s Jon Rahm (No. 10).<\/p>\n . Five players competed in the 2018 Ryder Cup held at Le Golf National: Tommy Fleetwood (balance: 4 wins, 1draw and 0 losses), Rory McIlroy (2-3-0), Alex Noren (2-1-0), Jon Rahm (1-2-0) and Thorbj\u00f8rn Olesen (1-1-0).<\/p>\n . Three winners of the French Open integrated in the DP World Tour, played every year at Le Golf National are present in the men\u2019s Olympic tournament: Guido Migliozzi (2022), Alex Noren (2018) and Tommy Fleetwood (2017).<\/p>\n . Four golfers competed in the World Amateur Team Championship held in 2022 at Le Golf National: Ludvig \u00c5berg (T7\/Sweden), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (T11\/Belgium), Keita Nakajima (T53\/Japan).<\/p>\n . Ireland\u2019s Shane Lowry and Paraguay\u2019s Fabrizio Zanotti were appointed to serve as flag bearers for their respective countries during the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n . Oldest golfer: Colombia\u2019s Camilo Villegas (42 years old)<\/p>\n . Youngest golfer: Korea\u2019s Tom Kim (22 years old)<\/p>\n . Thirty-two countries are represented, with a total participation of 60 golfers. Country representation rose to 36 in Tokyo 2020 and 34 in Rio 2016). Switzerland makes its debut in the men\u2019s Olympic golf competition for the first time in history thanks to the presence of Joel Girrbach.<\/p>\n . Top-ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking who gets medal: number 2 \/ Henrik Stenson \u2013 silver in 2016<\/p>\n . Lowest ranked player in the Olympic Golf Ranking to medal: number 43 \/ C.T. Pan \u2013 bronze in 2020<\/p>\n . Australia\u2019s Min Woo Lee will make his Olympic debut. A week later his sister Minjee Lee competes in the women\u2019s event. The Lee\u2019s constitute the only existing brother-sister relationship in the Olympic golf tournament.<\/p>\n . Korean Byeong Hun An\u2019s parents, Jae-Hyung Ahn (KOR \u2013 bronze) and Jiao Zhimin (CHN \u2013 silver in doubles and bronze in singles) won medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in table tennis. The father was a bronze medalist, while the mother won silver in doubles and bronze in the singles competition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Excitement for the novelty of representing Spain and participating for the first time in the Olympic tournament; overflowing illusion before the start of the competition and the characteristic ambition of those who aspire to the maximum. Jon Rahm and David Puig have spread optimism in the official appearance held in the press room of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":16053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
.<\/span><\/p>\n
. Ten of the top fifteen players in the World Ranking, including the top seven, are in Paris for the Men\u2019s Olympic Tournament, which gives an idea of the enormous competition established even before the start.<\/p>\n