Just as Jon Rahm displays a wide variety of shots and skills on the golf course, the world number one approaches press conferences with a balanced mix of eloquence, confidence and analytical flair. Rahm didn't evade any questions in his press conference at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters and made it clear how much the Real Club Valderrama means to him and how thrilled he would be to succeed on this historic layout.
“As I have often said, I owe my golf to Valderrama, when back in ’97 a group of my father’s Friends came to watch the Ryder Cup out of curiosity and got hooked on golf. That’s why my family started playing golf, and that’s why I am here.
It would be amazing to win here, and not only because this was the starting point, but also because of the history of the Volvo Masters, which was played here for such a long time as the last tournament of the year. I would love to join the list of great players who have won here because it's a very difficult course where any weakness in your game is always going to be accentuated by the course. You can't have anything going wrong this week, and the winner here is always a deserved winner. There is no luck. The winner will be the one who really faces up to the challenge of playing at Valderrama and does it better than the rest. I was lucky enough to play well two years ago and finished second, but let's see if I can go one better this time.”
In fact, Jon Rahm is willing to go a little further to make the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters grow. There is an agreement in the horizon between the two most important tours in the world and the possibility of the Real Club Valderrama hosting a tournament valid for both tournaments.
“Valderrama would definitely be a great venue for a hybrid between the European and US tours, and I'm going to do my best to get everyone to come here, because apart from being a great golf course, for me it's a great change from the PGA Tour. On many courses we play on the PGA Tour it’s just a driver, an 8 iron as high as possible and a chip if you miss the green. It’s very repetitive.
Valderrama is very different. It’s not a long course and it shows that distance is not everything. Here you need to play golf, you need to adjust to the course and hit the right shots to the right spots ̶ and it can be costly if you risk too much. I would be great to bring here one of those important events combining the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai because there is such a love for golf in our country and because this course deserves it.”
After his Tuesday round, Rahm recalled Ian Poulter’s comment about scoring at Valderrama a few years ago.
“I don't dare to predict a winning score because I've been told that they want the greens to be harder during the tournament, and that will complicate things with the wind. I only know that if you make par on this course all four days, you will be top ten ̶ and sometimes they've even won with that. If the wind is still strong and the greens harden, I would be surprised if the result is better than -5, but as I said in Madrid, I hope the winning score will be mine.”
The U.S. Open champion has had a year full of emotions and contrasts, including his consolidation as world number one and his triumph at Torrey Pines, but also his mishaps at the Memorial and the Olympic Games due to covid. His family has been a key support.
“It's been a year with a lot of good things and some drawbacks, and being a father has been the biggest help in overcoming them. I must to give all the credit to my wife Kelley because she always told me that as soon as I became a father I would win my first major, and she was right. She saw something in my personality that made her think that, and it's clearly helped me a lot. Even though I still care, as a competitor, about everything that happens on the course, if I am upset after a bad day, I look at him and it goes away. And I've always said that if you're good off the course, you're going to be good on the course. Golf is not everything, it’s an important part of my life, but it’s much more important to be a good person, a good father, a good friend.... And that's what I’ve realized this year.”
Reaching the top is still a daunting task, because it is difficult to get a foothold in the highly skilled competition in modern golf. Confidence and discipline are the two basic ingredients.
“The hardest part about being world number one is to stay there. Last year I got there and lost it after two weeks. But I think that it comes as a consequence of playing well. You just have to keep doing well, and that's why every time I tee it up I want to play well and to prove that I am number one.”
“I want to say two things to the kids watching this. If you think you're going to be number one like I did when I was a kid, say it, no matter what anyone tells you. Everyone who has ever been the best at something has believed it and made it public. Say that you believe it and work for it, which is the other fundamental part, because there are no tricks or anything special to be number one, it's about putting in a lot of hours of work and having a lot of determination to achieve your goals. This is not just for golf, it's for everything in life; if you want to be the best at something you need to work very hard and have a lot of discipline.”
Despite brimming with confidence and knowing from a very young age what his path to the top was going to be, Jon Rahm is not yet fully aware of the effect he is making around him, particularly in Spain.
“I'm not very aware of popularity; I only concentrate on my job on the golf course. Yesterday I had dinner with Aritz Aduriz and he prepared me for what Bilbao will be like when I go there in December. My way of thinking about myself hasn't changed, I'm the same kid from Barrika, but with the things I've done some more people will know me."
INSIDE THE ROPES
Jon Rahm’s favourite nicknames.
“I’ve had many nicknames in my life, but I never heard about the “Cantabrian Shark”. In the States it’s usually “Rahmbo” and I rather like the “Barrika Lion”.
Sergio Garcia's tips for Valderrama
Rahm himself has pointed out that there are no secrets to being world number one, but there are ideed secrets is at Valderrama. Sergio García, triple winner of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters is the one who knows them best.
“While I was with Sergio at the Ryder Cup we only talked about what we had in front of us, there was no time for Valderrama; but today, playing a few holes here, I thought I'd write to Sergio because I'm sure he can give me some advice. This is a course where every trick and every experience can help, because you have to learn how to play it and adapt your game to the course, even though everyone has their own style. There are always flags, greens or tees where some mistakes are better than others, like if you send it to the right on 16th you are lost; so the advice of someone like Sergio is always welcome. Obviously, when Sergio is hitting the ball well, there are very few in the world at his level from tee to green, so no wonder he has won here several times.”
Beach Clean Up
This EDAM 2021 Tuesday has started with the 'Beach Clean Up', with Santiago Tarrio and Alejandro Cañizares helping to clean the Torreguadiaro Beach along hundreds of volunteers. 230 kilos of rubbish were collected throughout the morning, and the first 200 volunteers who turned up received a ticket for the tournament. This experience is part of the European Tour's 'Green Drive' initiative and shows the environmental awareness of the San Roque Town Hall, the circuit itself and the rest of the entities involved in the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.
Photo of the Spanish players
At around 16:00 the traditional photo of Spanish players was taken, an initiative created years ago by Mª Acacia López-Bachiller. The players enjoy this tradition that takes place in every tournament played in Spain. Although some were absent due to different training schedules, eight of the players in this week’s field were able to be present.
Tickets are now available for this year’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with options for purchasing individual tickets for each day, four-day passes or weekend passes, with preferential rates for children under 14, federated golfers or people with reduced mobility.
Tickets can be purchased from the Tickets menú on the tournament website, at edamgolf.es or at Fever.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Regeneración, Justicia y Administración Local of the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU, declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain. This tournament is also supported by the Diputación de Cádiz, Exterior Plus, Hero, Rolex y Santander Private Banking. Callaway, Cinco Jotas, Enterprise, Gadira, Kyocera, La Reserva Club Sotogrande, Marca, Quirónsalud, the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf, Riversa, SO/ Sotogrande, Varma and Volvo are official suppliers.
