The sensations are always a very particular and absolutely non-transferable terrain. It happens in all areas of life, even in the most mundane. Sport is no stranger to this, and golf even less so. How many times do we hear a player lamenting because they are putting poorly or not quite sharp with the irons, and yet the statistics show something very different? This happened yesterday to Jon Rahm after his magnificent debut at LIV Golf Mexico. A round of 64 strokes. Second place, one stroke behind Bryson DeChambeau.
Rahm was very satisfied with his play and the result, and he greatly valued the boost from starting with three birdies in the first three holes. “I’ve felt quite comfortable in recent weeks, playing very good golf, and I’m glad today was one of those days where I finally start the tournament with a good round,” he explains. Jon feels that he hasn’t started tournaments well in recent times. Well, in reality, this has only happened in the last two, LIV Miami at Doral and the Masters. In the first, he started with a birdie but then linked three consecutive bogeys. And in the Masters, he started with a bogey on the 2nd, a birdie on the 3rd, and another bogey on the 4th. It’s not a disaster, but we can agree it’s not the dream start.
However, Rahm’s dynamic in 2025 in LIV Golf has been precisely the same as in Mexico. He has always started tournaments very well. In Arabia, he started with two birdies in three holes, in Australia he made one in the first three, in Hong Kong there were two in the first three, and in Singapore, he began with a bogey but then made three consecutive birdies.
Be that as it may, and beyond the sensations, Jon is more than satisfied with his performance at Chapultepec. He feels comfortable there. “I really like the course because I feel almost like a junior. It reminds me of the courses I played as a child in Spain. I know I’m seen as a player who hits the ball very hard, but I actually started playing golf on narrow courses with a lot of trees,” he explains.
The golfer from Barrika feels especially comfortable in Mexico, where remember he won the national open when he was still on the PGA Tour. “I feel like one of them. Although playing with Carlos (Ortiz), obviously I’m not at the same level as him for them, but the crowd was also very much in my favour.
It’s very fun to play in front of fans like that. I would say that in any country where European football is the main sport, the crowd treats golf as if they were watching a match. At least when I’m in the group, because they feel comfortable shouting in Spanish. It’s much more exciting because, for example, you make a six-foot putt that elsewhere would barely receive a lukewarm applause, and here you have three or four people celebrating it as if you had scored a goal. It’s absolutely incredible. It’s very fun to be part of that. Even today by the 18th hole, getting ready to putt, it felt like I was in a stadium, there was a murmur as if it were a corner kick or a penalty. They are really cheering you on, something you’re not always used to, but here it’s greatly enjoyed,” he notes.
Regarding his good performance on the first day, Rahm mainly attributes it to the putt. “I’ve been very comfortable on the greens. I’ve worked a lot on this area in recent days, after the Masters, and today it has paid off. I’m very happy,” he notes.
