Jon Rahm leads the home bid this week at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. The two-time major winner is excited to perform for the Spanish fans and eager to settle his personal debt with a course where he missed out on the prestigious Copa Sotogrande in his amateur days.
At the age of 15, Rahm was on his way to his first big title, but it slipped away.
“On the 12th tee, I was four or five under for the day and leading by four or five. I don’t really know if I got over confident or too nervous.
I missed left, made bogey or double on 13, birdied 14, bogeyed 15 and three-putted on 17. I still had a sixteen-footer for the win on the last and left it half an inch short dead centre ̶ I shall never forget that!
I then lost on the first playoff hole.”
“I won’t forget that Sunday for sure, but those bad moments make you learn and grow as a player. Great champions such as Mickelson or Tiger will tell you in full detail about shots they hit 35 years ago. They have reached the highest level because they learned a lot from their mistakes.”
In spite of that, Rahm keeps excellent memories of Sotogrande and Andalusia. “The hospitality here is incredible, and I have never heard anything negative about this golf course ̶ that means it’s very special.”
Jon dreams of putting on a good show for the Spanish fans and clinching a title that has eluded him in his three previous appearances at the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters. His best result was a tied second in 2019.
“It’s always a different feeling being back in Spain. I think my emotions can be heightened when playing in front of the Spanish crowds. Obviously, I always want to do well, but when I come home it’s something that makes me want to play a little bit better and is one of the reasons I have done so well in the past. I enjoyed great Sundays winning the 2018, 2019 y 2022 Spanish Opens. Even the last Open was very exciting and emotional for Ángel Hidalgo.”
“These events on the DP World Tour always happen at the end of the year for me, so it feels like it takes a little longer to re-charge. I’ve been home; the kids had a full break in the United States so to have all three of them at home all week was a lot of fun. It’s a lot of work but I don’t usually get the chance to be Dad for that long, so mentally it was a very nice break for me.”
On the verge of turning 30, Rahm takes stock and does not feel that his eventful career has changed him much.
“You learn something new every day and get new experiences, but my essence as a person has not changed. Going to Madrid at the age of 15 from a Basque school in Bilbao was a big change. Switching to study in Spanish was very difficult, and then from there to the US. I think those changes were bigger that was has happened to me as a professional so far.”
Nevertheless, he is more cautious than the 17-year-old who, brimming with confidence, assured that he would win 19 Majors.
“I admit that I was arrogant, but my attitude is the same. If you don’t believe it yourself, nobody will; if I don’t have that goal and that dream, I will not get there. I know that if I don’t have a big enough goal I’m not going to give my maximum effort to reach it.”
“Now that I have two Majors, my goal is three, and then it will be four and so on. If I stay halfway to 19 and get to nine or ten, it will be an incredible career. Nowadays, going over five is very difficult.”
Although Rahm is the best ranked Spaniard (14th), there are 16 other Spanish players hoping that the tenth edition of the tournament stays at home. They took the traditional family photo next to the clubhouse.
The Spanish options also include Pablo Larrazábal, Álvaro Quirós, Adrián Otaegui, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jorge Campillo, Nacho Elvira, Adri Arnaus, Ángel Hidalgo, Alfredo García Heredia, David Puig, Eugenio Chacarra, Santiago Tarrío, Alejandro del Rey, Manuel Elvira, Iván Cantero and. Sebastián García.
Tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters are already available, with discounts for members of the federation (and their families/friends) and free access for children under 13, and can be purchased here.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.
