Jon Rahm was 21 years old the first time he set foot on Oakmont. It was 2016. His first US Open. His first Major. He had heard about its legend. He had seen it in videos. He had read countless stories about the hell of Pennsylvania. But nothing compares to experiencing it firsthand. On his first practice day, on the 1st hole, playing with Rickie Fowler, he hits a perfect drive down the centre of the fairway and leaves himself a wedge for the second shot to the green. He hits it exactly as he wants, it lands where he wants, he thinks he’s going to leave it close… Everything seems easy. Too easy for Oakmont. However, the ball bounces as if it hit a concrete path and ends up long, off the green. Jon can’t believe it. He turns and incredulously asks Fowler: “So, how do you hit this shot?” Rickie shrugs. Welcome to Oakmont.
That 2016 US Open is not just another tournament in Rahm’s career. It was the first and, logically, it leaves a lasting impression. Beyond his excellent result, top 25 and best amateur, the Lion of Barrika has two images etched in his memory. Both occurred on the 18th hole, one on Thursday and the other on Saturday. On the first day, it was his ninth hole, he missed the drive to the right and ended up in the rough, in the spectator area. There were many people. He had a shot to the green, but with a 6-iron. Naturally, a corridor formed on both sides of Jon’s shot trajectory. Many people on the left and many on the right. Even today, Rahm’s face lights up remembering that human tunnel. It was the first time in his career he had seen something like that. To top it off, he hit a great shot. Unforgettable.
The second image took place on the green of the 18th hole. The pin was short and to the right, and Jon had missed the green precisely on that side. His last hole of the round. He had a tricky recovery. It was Saturday because with the rain delays, the second round couldn’t be completed on Friday. Jon executed a masterful approach and left it a metre and a half away. At that moment, it seemed he needed the par to make the cut. While studying the putt, he saw his coach Edu Celles and his brother Eriz in the distance. Both were heading home that Saturday and wanted to do so with Jon making the cut. Rahm holed it and remembers Celles and Eriz’s joyful faces as if it were yesterday.
It was only his first Major, but Jon in that US Open already began to discover things that didn’t quite convince him regarding logistics during a major week. He stayed in a house very close to the course. He walked back and forth, in fact. Initially, anyone would say it was a luxury, but not for Jon. Time, and especially the experience at the Open at Carnoustie, when he stayed at the hotel located on the golf course itself, made him realise that he preferred staying 20-25 minutes away by car. “It’s a way to disconnect, to break up the day, to think about other things. Since Carnoustie, I always do it that way. In that British, wherever I looked, I only saw the golf course, and it didn’t go well for me,” he admits. It’s all about learning. And not everyone benefits from the same things.
In these nine years, almost a decade (playing his 35th major), Rahm has learned many other things in the Majors. Perhaps nothing equals the importance of accepting mistakes. It’s probably what has been hardest for him and, at the same time, what has made him grow the most as a player. “I think my main problem has always been accepting mistakes. I am fully aware that I can make mistakes, but accepting that I did, that it’s my fault and moving on, has been harder for me. Many times, I am very expressive in blaming something external, although when I say it, I know perfectly well it was my fault. So the faster I accept it was me and move on, the better it will be. There have been weeks where I’ve performed very well on difficult courses where that was the case. I think, as far as I’m concerned, it’s that, the acceptance that it’s going to happen, that it happens, and doing what you need to do to hit the best shot next time.”
In this regard, he knows he has also improved a lot in terms of strategy on the course. “One of the stats that stuck with me from that US Open was that I finished the week with more birdies than Dustin Johnson and he beat me by ten. I was going all out and, of course, you made birdies, but you also got into trouble. I’ve changed a lot there too,” he acknowledges.
