Navigating a route through professional golf at the moment is no easy task, with distractions coming from all angles, not least the uncertain passage that the PGA Tour, and by extension the DP World Tour, will take now that the Saudi PIF sovereign wealth fund will be the source of funding – once the new partnership is ratified – going forward.
Jon Rahm’s reaction to it all, on a week off at home in Texas, was to joke to his wife Kelley that he just wanted to put his mobile phone out of reach in a drawer so that he could stay away from the constant stream of text and WhatsApp messages that came his way.
Truth is, the Spaniard was as much in the dark about things as any other player on the tour. Still is to a point, with the waters still murky as to how and when things will eventually play out.
For sure, it has all been a distraction, not just the past week but the past year and a bit since LIV Golf’s manifestation. And Rahm is one of those who just wants to get on with his life, and remains a player who uses the Majors especially as the fuel for his own ambitions.
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As the great explorer Christopher Columbus, an Italian who used Spanish ports as the starting point on his many expeditions, put it: “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.”
Rahm, almost by his nature, has done just that in his golfing career and plays golf and lives life as someone aware of where he wants to go and how to get there.
This week, it is the 123rd US Open at Los Angeles Country Club and the Spaniard – currently world number two in the ongoing see-sawing of places with Scottie Scheffler who occupies the top ranking – has his sights set on a third career Major title, aiming to add to the US Open he won in 2021 just down the Californian coastline in San Diego and to the Masters he collected at Augusta in April.
“There’s not really a part of your game in any Major championship, let alone a US Open, that can really be in doubt. You’re going to need to access every single aspect of your game to win a championship like this. It’s doing the little things, following the checkpoints, the basics, so the fundamentals of your game are in good shape and just getting out here and playing,” explained Rahm of the process he works on to be right for such a week.
He expanded: “When I mean fundamentals, it’s just making sure your alignment is proper, making sure your stance over the ball is as comfortable as you can be, [but] alignment being a big one. It’s little things like that, ball position, this and that to make sure when you get here to this week you don’t have to think about it too much. I know it sounds simple, but it’s those little things that can make a difference.”
Rahm hasn’t won since having the Green Jacket slipped on to his shoulders by Scheffler at Augusta National, although he did finish runner-up to Tony Finau in Mexico and claimed a tied-16th at the Memorial (after playing poorly in the US PGA) was poor reward for the golf he actually played.
As he described it, “my belief in myself is the same. I haven’t played my best golf the last two starts. Actually, I played really good at Memorial, just couldn’t make the putts I needed to keep the rounds going. But I still think I finished 16th in a really tough set-up. Hit it really, really well. Obviously PGA was a tough one.
“My confidence level is very high. You have to have that belief in yourself as a competitor no matter what happens. You stick to the process, that’s basically what I think has happened this year. There’s no magic formula. I’ve just stuck to working on the things that I have to work on, and when you do the little things properly, eventually scores come, and that’s what happened to me this year. Late last year and early this year.”
So, relaxed and ready to go. Rahm’s impression of the LACC North Course doesn’t invoke fear, just awareness of it being a typically tough US Open challenge.
“It is a US Open. Fairways and greens, hopefully two-putt and move on. It’s a design that I like, it makes you think. It’s very intricate green complexes, you’ve got to play the angles a little bit and, especially if you miss the greens, you’re going to find yourself in some interesting spots to get up-and-down. It’s got everything, it’s got all the ingredients to be a great week.”
