Jon Rahm’s love for the British: “There is nothing comparable to this”

The Spanish athlete reflects and says that the greatest honor a player can have in his career is to win the Open in St. Andrews

John Rahm I did not know the meaning or importance of Saint Andrews when I stepped foot for the first time in the cradle of golf. It happened a long time ago, when I was still a rambunctious child enjoying a family vacation. “There’s even a picture with my brother I think in the putting greenRahm recalls. It was the late 1990s and Jon’s father Edorta was giving his first swings.

Years later, the tables would turn and Jon would give his father a gigantic gift: share together in the Dunhill Links Championship, a European Tour tournament played proam. At the tournament, Edorta and Rahm they could play all 18 holes at the same time for the first time at the legendary Saint Andrews Old Course. “I didn’t do my bestwing that day”, remembers the one from Barrika, the gift could not be complete since Rahm missed the cut and the family was left without enjoying the Old Course over the weekend.

“In my opinion, the greatest honor a player can have in his career is win the open at st andrewsthere is nothing comparable to this”. Rahm makes it clear: this is the tournament he wants to win. In addition, Rahm adds that the tournament is “very special” and that this year “there are many things that come together”.

Saint Andrews is a city of barely 20,000 inhabitants with the highest concentration of golf courses. In what is considered the ‘cradle of golf’, everything revolves around this sport. Every year, thousands of fans make the pilgrimage to play in some of the most renowned and historic golf courses; the pubs, the bookstores, the shops, everything is golf. Especially in the summer, when the hustle and bustle of its important university disappears and even more so in a week when the oldest tournament celebrates its 150th birthday.

“Golf needs to come here”

“I’ve been through a couple of bookstores, with golf history books, that I would love to go and buy. But there were so many people I didn’t dare go in.” So far the experiences of Rahm at St Andrews are reduced to these failed attempts and a dinner at an Indian restaurant.

If there are weeks where the legacy outweighs any other interest, the one that has just started is at the top of the ranking. “It is a tournament that if they pay us zero, we all come the same, when there are so many things that are happening, that have changed the dynamics of golf, coming here is something that golf needs“.

Rahm reflects and also puts aside any hint of concern for the bad result last weekend at the Scottish Open. “I’m playing well, it could happen at any time, I can win any week and this could be it. I’m playing good golf and more pressure than I put myself under, you’re not going to put me in, I’m working for it”, affirmed the Spanish player. In his head there is only one goal this week “to win and win” and the links courses have not been bad for him “I have won two tournaments in links, I was third in the Open last year and 11th in Royal Portrush, “I would say I’m pretty good at it,” he concludes before grabbing a quick bite to eat and starting his second round of practice.