Charlotte (AFP) – Jon Rahm says the big thing he has learned in 10 years playing major golf tournaments is that you don’t need to play perfect to win, just believe in your game. The 30-year-old Spaniard seeks a third major title at this week’s 107th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow after capturing the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters.
Rahm made his major debut at the 2016 US Open and was low amateur while sharing 23rd at Oakmont. “I can’t believe I’m almost at a decade in majors. It goes by fast, that’s all I can say,” Rahm said Tuesday. “It’s funny, nine, 10 years ago I was thinking I had to play my absolute best in every aspect of the game. If anything, you just have to have full faith in all aspects of your game and just learn how to manage the golf course that week.”
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Rahm says time and experience have shown him you don’t need to be flawless, just better than everyone else that week. “You always feel like, to win a major, you have to play perfect, which is not true,” Rahm said. “At the end of the day, a lot of it is keep playing solid good golf and take advantage of the good stretches you’re going to have throughout the week. But by any means you don’t have to play perfect.”
“I’ve gone back and seen reruns of some of my rounds on both (major win) Sundays. Especially the one at the US Open, I thought I played so good. I didn’t realize how many fairways I missed and how many shots that weren’t good, but did all the things right to minimize the damage.”
With a victory this week, Rahm would only need a British Open triumph to complete a career Grand Slam. But he figures it’s too early for such talk even with Rory McIlroy completing his career Slam with a Masters win and Jordan Spieth trying for a career Slam by winning the PGA. “I think it’s a goal for all of us who play the game,” Rahm said of the career Slam. “I would love to do it. Obviously it’s not easy. It would be a lot more on my mind if I were to win a third different one, kind of like Jordan has been able to do, but as in right now, if I ever had a thought, I’ll focus more on quantity of majors.”
– Working on ‘bad habits’ –
Rahm, who jumped from the PGA Tour to Saudi-backed LIV Golf for the 2024 campaign, won last year’s LIV season crown after taking titles in Chicago and England and has seven top-10 finishes but no wins this year. “I’ve been playing good all year. Maybe not as great as I would like. I feel like there’s some avoidable mistakes out there. But if you keep knocking out top 10s not having your best, I think it’s still pretty good,” Rahm said.
“If I had to say I’m working on something more, it’s I’m slightly trying to get some bad habits out of the swing. But I’m seeing the progress on it and how much better it’s feeling every day.” Rahm is among 15 LIV players in this week’s field of 156, a list that includes five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
© 2024 AFP
