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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 3, 2018

Jon Rahm

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. You birdied three of your four final holes, putting together a 65. How did it come together?
JON RAHM: Same thing as the last few days. But it all started with driving. I hit the ball really well off the tee, gave myself a lot of opportunities. But the main key today was my iron play. My game was a lot more accurate than the first few days and thanks to that I had a couple better birdie chances and a couple more went in.

Q. Playing with Phil, you're a local guy, you live here, went to Arizona State. How much of the energy here affects your round?
JON RAHM: I mean it affected it in a positive way, definitely. It's absolutely incredible the fact that we get so many fans out here pulling for ASU, most of them being ASU guys, it's absolutely great. It helps when you miss a shot and go into the rough and you got hundreds of people cheering for you and you're confident you can hit a good shot. And even if you hit a bad one, people are going to cheer you on. So it's always a great feeling.

Q. Last weekend wasn't your best, you called it two bad days, you wanted to shake it off. How do you avoid that tomorrow?
JON RAHM: Well it's the weekend, so far it's been going pretty good. It's just golf. I think we all out here understand that you can have bad days, it happens. You can have good ones and you're going to have bad ones. Just learn as much as you can from the good ones and bad ones. That's what we did. I'm a different person than the one I was a week ago, it's a very different golf course and so hopefully I can just keep playing good and have a better round than last week.

Q. Was that fun or nerve wracking out there today?
JON RAHM: A bit of both. I think even Phil himself can tell you on number 10 it got a little nerve wracking, people got a little closer, were more aggressive, and we were having some feelings that are not supposed to be had on the golf course. Besides that it was an absolutely joy to be out here.

Q. Tell me about Rahmbo on the 16th tee.
JON RAHM: What can I say? I mean it's a great feeling. It's a nickname I would like to stick and hoping right now it's sticking. I think the head bands have been a hit. I see a lot of people wearing them and it's just something to give me a little more confidence and a little hopefully more intimidation to the other guys.

Q. Most players wait until the crowd calms down. You backed off and asked the crowd to cheer louder.
JON RAHM: Yeah, it gets to a point where they get so loud that you can't hear anything, the level of noise is just so high. The last three days I can't even remember hitting the ball, like I couldn't hear, I just felt it. So it helps. You just focus on what you have to focus.

Q. Things get a little too personal, too negative there on 16 or is that just what goes with the territory?
JON RAHM: What?

Q. Did things get negative on 16?
JON RAHM: Why?

Q. I'm asking you.
JON RAHM: How? I hit a good shot and made a birdie, they didn't get negative with me, that's for sure. I don't know if anybody else got negative. As soon as we step on 16 we all know what's going to happen. A good shot is going to be rewarded and what they think is a bad one, it's going to be a bad reaction. But as long as you know it coming in, you expect it.

Q. You had the red headbands today for Rahmbo. Can you talk about the fan support and hoping that nickname sticks around.
JON RAHM: Yeah, I've had it every day. It's great. I saw a lot of people in the stands wearing them, a couple of the Thunderbirds, it was great. It's something that I want to stick and I feel like they all appreciate it when they get it for free, so it was a lot of fun. I got it a couple times on 16 definitely where they were cheering Rahmbo, instead of Jon Rahm. It was, you know, it was definitely special moment.

Q. How about the playing group, you Phil, Xander just killing it, all three of you guys playing great golf down the stretch. Gallery in your favor. All in contention going into Sunday.
JON RAHM: It was absolutely amazing. I think it was about time for me to have a good finish with those two guys. It's always great to play with Phil and Xander because they're great people, but it's even better when they get to play as good as you're playing and that we all feed off each other. It felt like every time one got ahead, the other ones would make a birdie and catch up. If we had kept playing a couple more holes, they probably would have caught up and all of us would have finished at 13- or 14- or whatever it was. So I don't know if I will or not, but it will be amazing to play with them two again tomorrow. If not, I hope to have the same positive energy we had today.

Q. How are you able to feed off of their energy with the Sun Devils chants and everything, how does that help you out?
JON RAHM: Oh it's obviously very positive for all of us, all of us Sun Devils. I feel like in many ways it's going to help you out. In my case is just brings up a lot of good memories from ASU, a lot of positive energy that I have. And they're doing it to cheer you on and you can't take any other way than just being positive. It just helps out. You can tell every time they start a chant me and Phil get a little bit of extra energy and positivity.

Q. What do you think of those guys in the front on the 16th hole. They always chant stuff to you guys?
JON RAHM: Left of the tee box? Yeah, the guys from Minnesota, right? I think it's great. They find some funny stuff to say, really. It can get really funny. I think it's great. They do their homework. They earn it. I think they should keep doing it.

Q. What's the best thing they have ever said to you, do you remember?
JON RAHM: I haven't been on TOUR that long so they haven't gotten too original yet. But like I said today I saw a bunch of the guys with the headbands and chanting Rahmbo, that was a lot of fun.

Q. You played a lot with Phil is this as good as you've seen him in a tournament?
JON RAHM: It's as good as I've seen his driving, definitely. I've been joking around a little bit with him, throughout the past year, about him being a bad driver and me being a good one. And I certainly can't say much right now because he's hitting it just as good as I am. It's amazing to see how confident he's getting and that's what's allowing him to play this good and I hope he keeps getting better all year long and if it doesn't happen this week, I hope we can see him win again. What am I going to say about Phil? He had some crazy up-and-downs today. I don't really know what to say.

Q. (No Microphone.)
JON RAHM: I think personally we all got a little tense on that hole, because I was close to the crowds most of the way and like I said, they started getting a little bit more aggressive than they should, because at the end we're just playing golf, doing our job. And Phil had me and Xander putt out because he actually felt uncomfortable. And it wasn't, to be honest, it probably wasn't safe for him to walk through those people trying to hit that shot. So I just hope that it can be a little bit more under control tomorrow and none of us feel scared to be out there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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