Jon Rahm gave a press conference this Tuesday, organised by Augusta National. It was a media attention, half in English and half in Spanish, as the defending champion. It is the first time we have had the opportunity to speak with the player from Barrika beyond his appearances at LIV Golf tournaments.
The staging was impeccable. Rahm attended from his home office, dressed in a white shirt, yellow tie and, of course, the green jacket. No reference to LIV Golf or Legion XIII. In the background, some trophies, the Ryder Cup, Torrey Pines, Sentry and even one from his university days, the 2015 Duck Invitational. No, neither the US Open nor the Masters were there, he displays these in a more special place.
Rahm has reviewed his last few months and talked about his preparation for the Masters. He does not hide a certain concern about the fact of arriving in a quite different way than last year. “In 2023 I played eight tournaments before Augusta and this year it will be five. The difference is significant and I don’t know how it will affect. We have to learn as we go along. We will see. What I do know is that, although it is true that I have not yet played at my best level this year, I feel very good, physically, mentally and technically, I am very comfortable and I know that I will arrive ready for the Masters,” he explained.
Precisely, the fact of being in LIV Golf has meant that his competition rounds this year before Augusta will be much fewer than in 2023. He plays less, has more free time and also the tournaments take up one less day of the week. Has his daily training routine at home changed since he is in LIV Golf? Jon responds emphatically: “Nothing changes, if anything the process in the gym with my trainer might vary a bit because we have more free time and that allows us to work out a bit more to be in better shape at other times of the year, but nothing different about golf, I am addicted to this sport and I train and will train every day as much as possible until I die,” he assures.
Regarding the preparation for the Masters, Rahm is going to introduce a novelty this year. Except for the year of his debut, Jon had never gone to Augusta weeks before to play the course. This year he is going to do it. Specifically, next week. He is going to play two days with a member of Augusta who is a friend of his and his family. He explains it like this: “This year is different because I am the defending champion. I didn’t want to arrive at the Masters for the first time the same week of the tournament. I prefer that all those emotions that I am going to feel remembering what happened last year, flow next week and thus in the week of the tournament I can fully focus on the competition,” he explains.
As for the fact that LIV tournaments are played over three days, Jon assures that it does not change his way of mentally approaching tournaments, although he does make a small adjustment. “I forget that they are three days, nothing changes. In the end, competition is competition and you are going to do as few as possible. That’s it, end of story. I didn’t think it would be harder, in the end it’s about winning. The approach is like we have all tied on Thursday and then comes Friday, Saturday and Sunday where we compete to win,” he points out.
