Jon Rahm dreamed again of a victory in a Major. Not just him. He had Spain on edge during a good stretch of the decisive day of the PGA Championship. The end was painful with a score that didn’t do justice to what was seen in the previous 13 holes. That’s golf. A small bounce or a delicate swing can ruin the feelings. That’s what happened to Jon as he saw the Wanamaker trophy slip away in the blink of an eye. Rowing only to drown at the shore.
However, the final collapse doesn’t prevent the man from Barrika from seeing the many positive takeaways from the week. He has fought for a Major again. He has shown and proven to himself that he was closer than it seemed to competing for the top tournaments, as he has been claiming for months. The expression after the collapse could have been one of depression or anger. Quite the opposite. Rahm is back and he knows it. Did it hurt? Of course. The emotional hug with his wife Kelley proves it, and his expression made it clear too.
However, as the minutes passed, something was brewing inside the two-time Major winner. Rahm at the microphone never disappoints, and on this occasion, he once again shared very interesting reflections. The man from Barrika began to feel the joy of someone who knows they’ve touched a piece they’ve long wanted to fine-tune: “I was very close,” Rahm said. “God, it had been a long time since I had so much fun on a golf course for 15 holes. Even at the beginning, when things weren’t going well, I stayed in the game.” Fun, it had been a long time since he said something like that.
“I take away many positive things from this week,” Rahm continued reflecting after the round. “It’s still a recent wound, but many good things happened, and I take good feelings for the rest of the year.” Being back there weighs more…
It’s true that the Spaniard faced an unprecedented situation. The two previous times he led on a Sunday in a Major, he took it home: “The other times I led a major on Sunday, I closed it with a victory. This was a completely different situation,” he reflected.
Among other factors, he acknowledges that nerves made an appearance and admits they had an influence. “If someone says they haven’t felt nerves in that situation, they’re lying. It’s what we do as athletes: control what goes through our heads. I think it was a bit of that. I didn’t feel rushed or that the process was wrong, but clearly, something didn’t go right.”
It’s not the first time he’s expressed it, but Jon the father is a more mature player in certain aspects. “Hopefully, I’ll make it in time to put the kids to bed. To them, whether I won or lost, it doesn’t matter. That always helps to put everything in perspective.”
The Basque golfer has adopted a philosophy attributed to former NBA player Charles Barkley that sums up everything said so far: “I play golf for a living. It’s incredible. Am I a bit embarrassed by how I finished today? Yes. But I have to get over it. It’s not the end of the world. I’m not a doctor or a rescuer, where a bad day can really mean a tragedy.”
He insists on preferring to focus on the positive: “I will recover. There are more positives than negatives this week. I’m happy to have put myself in a position to win and hope to learn from this to try again at the US Open.”
Does this mean Jon is less hungry? Quite the opposite, but the excitement of seeing himself there again this time weighs more.
