Oakmont (United States) (AFP) – Two-time major winner Jon Rahm, who unleashed choice curse words after poor shots at last week’s LIV Golf event, says his mental game is ready to be tested at this week’s US Open. The 30-year-old Spaniard won his first major title at the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines and added the Masters crown in 2023, but he has not won since last September’s LIV Golf Chicago event. While he is confident in his game, Rahm also knows formidable Oakmont’s thick rough and fast greens will test his shotmaking and mental game.
“It’s going to be a challenge. A lot of unfortunate things are going to happen,” Rahm said Tuesday. “It’s hard fairways to hit, bad lies, difficult bunkers, difficult greens. It’s going to be a difficult test.” Rahm said his mental approach has improved despite outbursts picked up by television cameras on Sunday at the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Virginia. “It has gotten a lot better,” Rahm said. “I think my main issue is always with accepting the mistakes. I’m fully aware that I can make mistakes, but accepting that I’ve done it, it’s my fault and move on. A lot of times I’m very vocal about blaming something on the outside even though when I’m saying it, I’m fully aware it was my fault. So the quicker I accept that it’s me and I move on is going to help. If there’s any part of your game that will be tested on a week like this, it will be your mental game, that’s for sure.”
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Rahm likes the state of his game after a share of eighth in last month’s PGA Championship, his 14th top-10 major result in eight years. “I know I’ve been playing good, and it has been consistently good. I’ve done well in majors in the past, I’ve done well in majors recently, and week in and week out I’ve been playing good golf,” Rahm said.
– ‘Need to have it all’ –
Driving, Rahm said, will be at a premium to avoid punitive rough. “It’s nearly impossible to win a tournament here if you’re not hitting it well off the tee because, if you keep putting yourself off the fairway, for lack of a better term, you’re going to get ‘Oakmont’ very often,” Rahm said. “It’s just a tough course. If it doesn’t rain, most likely over par will win again. It’s something that none of us are used to, but it’s a challenge you need to embrace. You need to have it all. You need to be playing really good golf.”
Rahm notes treacherous bunkers and undulating greens in addition to Oakmont’s other problems. “In a non-US Open year, the biggest challenge off the tee will be those fairway bunkers. They’re usually very penal,” Rahm said. “They’re very often just deep enough to where you don’t have a chance to get to the green due to the length. But if there’s just one thing, it’s the greens. It’s very complicated and intricate greens that, if you were to make them flat, this golf course would be very different.”
Rahm says once the challenge of Oakmont begins for players, the intimidating aura of the iconic layout will fade. “You embrace it. You know how great it is,” Rahm said. “Once you start the tournament, all of those things kind of go away. It’s business at that point. It’s time to post a score.”
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