The powerful American circuit long ago suggested to the world’s best golfers an idea to make broadcasting tournaments more attractive. The big television networks thought it would be interesting to hear what the players say during an official round, how they regret when they miss a shot, what they talk to the players. caddies, how they discuss the preparation of a coup, and that the ideal would be that they wore a microphone on their t-shirt. The stars refused. Neither wanted the expletives that sometimes come from the mouth of a frustrated golfer to go public. There is already enough, they thought, with the ambient microphones, that in the public void of the pandemic they have heard more than usual –Justin Thomas, for example, lost sponsorship from Ralph Lauren last January because after missing a single hit he called himself faggot, which can be translated as “fag” -.
Without reaching this invasion of privacy, the European circuit has exploited a more original formula. It involves interviewing the golfer during the same game, usually on a par five on the way from tee shot to second impact. In those hundreds of meters that the golfer walks at a brisk pace, a reporter walks in parallel with the player with a long-pole microphone (you have to keep a certain safety distance) and asks him some questions. He submitted to the invention this Friday Jon Rahm, during the second day of the Spanish Open, which finished with 12 under par, second classified to a blow from the Dutchman Wil Besseling (-13).
As Rahm set the pace, puffing, with two large lines of fans at his sides behind the ropes (9,765 people attended the whole day), he spoke of his feelings when again dragging a flood of thousands of fans in his wake: “Is awesome. I have seen my face everywhere in Madrid. They recognize me on the street, and now I understand that this is part of being who I am ”. That is, the number one in the world, the winner of the US Open. “I have won many amateur national tournaments, and that is why winning the Spanish Open is very special, because the trophy is the same but bigger.” And, asked about what was the first thing he ate when he arrived in Spain, he did not hesitate: “Ham. Although what my mother puts on my plate is fine ”.
Before and after that interview on the run, Rahm gritted his teeth in a start to the round that was not as brilliant as the previous day. If on Thursday he started with six shots discounted in the first eight holes (he started from 10), this Friday he lowered the card in that section by one (start from the first), with more problems to take the fairways and less sharp with the shot to green. It may also be influenced by playing in the afternoon shift, when the field is more heavily trodden. “I have not felt that I have played badly”, expressed Rahm, “it is true that I have not had the best feeling, but the result has not been bad ”, expressed on his return of 67 strokes, four under par. He did lose several fairways, such as on hole four, when he went into the mud, and on 13, a concrete road from which he could drop. From there he put the ball between the trees to land on the green to applause. A touch of imagination, of silk hands.
It was one of the many times that fans took their phones for a walk to capture the moment of the blow. And there Rahm, armored during the return by four bodyguards, did attract attention. The number one explained after the return that he understood the enormous expectation it generates, but that on several occasions he had felt distracted by the noise of the telephones when taking a photo, receiving a message or even a call. Very rare situations in other countries, but somewhat more frequent in a tournament like this in which Rahm has unleashed the madness.
9,765 people
In 1995, when Severiano Ballesteros achieved his third and final victory at the Spanish Open (before he won in 1981 and 1985), the Villa de Madrid Country Club registered some 40,000 followers throughout the tournament. They were the last blows of the Cantabrian genius, whom Jon Rahm has now replaced in popular fervor with the charisma and energy of his 26 years.
At the 2018 Open, held at the National Golf Center, some 50,000 fans witnessed the first victory in the Rahm national championship. The following year, already at the Country Club, and paying admission, there were 30,000 people in total who saw live how the Basque defended the title.
In two days in this edition, the influx has reached almost 20,000, which suggests that during the weekend the highest records of a tournament in Spain will be exceeded. On Thursday 8,542 fans entered, and this Friday there were 9,765 who paid the entrance. “You can tell that people are wanting,” Rahm said.
Classification of the Spanish Open.
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