Jon Rahm almost had the marks of the Arizona hospital chair where he spent Monday night with his wife Kelley and little Alaia, third in the saga and first girl, when he was seen at the Country Club, the scene since Thursday of the Acciona Open of Spain, the great tournament he has won. thrice.
He crossed the Atlantic by private plane overnight to land in Madrid. “I have never faced a tournament without training the course with such a long trip. In Palm Spring, it is true, that many times I have played the best having only played nine holes, but I had trained other courses around it. Or in the Masters -two years ago when Eneko was born- that I arrived on Tuesday, but it is not the same”.
He took a few hits on the practice range without great sensations, Also uncomfortable because of the wind that has already started to blow and that on Thursday he promises to do it with open lungs, before announcing that he is not “able to make six or seven under par as has happened on other occasions. I hope to do well and not lose the tournament on first day to position myself for the weekend.
The one from Barrika knew more about the weather reports than about the team of players he will face. “Ah, Shane Lowry plays! I didn’t know. Well, the truth is that it is a very good field and it is excellent news for the Spanish Open that there can be players of this quality and the fan can discover golfers that he may not know as much “There is Patrick Reed, for example, who may not be having a good season but who is one of the three best short game players in the world.”
Jon Rahm (29) on Wednesday in Madrid
Jon assessed the year as “very good”, due to the two victories in the LIV Golf and the final overall and because after having become a father for the third time he has proclaimed the state of happiness. “He could have done better in the majors, but also in the British Open he was not bad – he was seventh.” From his head he seems to have erased the end of the last round of the Olympic Games, a result that he ignored, as he also avoided the issue of the fine – in quarantine for a precautionary one – that he will have to pay to the European Tour to be able to play the tournaments of this European tour having played LIV tournaments that coincided with those of the DP World Tour.
“I would like to go back to the situation before. I never asked the European Tour for permission to play the PGA Tour and with this circuit, at most, I had to write a protocol letter. Golfers should have the freedom to play wherever they want. Although I am optimistic and because of the rumors that there are, perhaps we will reach a solution soon,” he explained before going to the gym to loosen up his muscles.
