THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

July 19, 2020

Jon Rahm

Muirfield Village

Quick Quotes

Q. Jon, I want to talk about your attitude and mentality today. You started with a four-shot lead that increased to eight, got a little smaller on the back nine. How do you feel like you held up mentally and emotionally out there with everything on the line?

JON RAHM: You know, conditions were so tough. I knew I wasn't going to play 18 perfect holes. I knew at some point something was going to go south. For the most part on the front nine, I got pretty good breaks, and I was able to get it done.

You know, there was a couple shots that might have ended up in the worst spot, like my tee shot on 8 could have been a lot worse, my tee shot on 9 could have been a lot worse, but they didn't. I knew at some point they could get a little twisted. It doesn't take much on this golf course.

If it's a difficult golf course on a regular day, imagine when they're ready to basically let the greens die, fairways die. It was so firm out there, so windy, and then we started to get a little drizzle, that it's just no easy task. Any miss is going to be heavily penalized, and I was fully aware.

Unfortunately for me Ryan played amazing when I started playing bad. Made a par on 10, 11, birdie on 12, and then he had some chances to put more pressure on me. But when I needed it the most after that missed putt on 14 I said that's enough, started hitting good shots and I timed with it; real highlight with that little flop shot on 16, which will probably go down so far as my greatest chip shot. I don't know if I'll ever top that.

Q. Talk about that second shot on 16. From your perspective looking over the ball, did you see it move? And secondly, what was the conversation like with Slugger White after you finished?

JON RAHM: I didn't see it. You know, I promised open honesty and I'm a loyal person, and I don't want to win by cheating. And it kind of happened a couple years ago, I basically told the officials to make the decision they wanted, I just explained my side and I wasn't given any penalty. And today I see it, and the ball did move. It's as simple as that.

The rules of golf are clear. Had I seen it, I would have said something. But you have to zoom in the camera to be able to see something, and I have rough, I'm looking at my landing spot. I'm not really thinking of looking at the golf ball. I'm one of those where I'm looking down but my awareness is not on the ball.

As unfortunate as it is to have this happen, it was a great shot, serious. What it goes to show is you never know what's going to happen. So I'm glad I grinded those last two up-and-downs because had I missed both of them, plus the penalty stroke, maybe Ryan finishes strong, I would be in a playoff, and I'm glad I finished it off good.

I want everybody to hear it: It did move. It is a penalty. As hard it is to say for how great of a shot it was -- as hard as it is to say that, I won't finish double digits under par. But it did move, so I'll accept the penalty, and it still doesn't change the outcome of the tournament. So I'm going to stay with that.

Q. Nor the outcome in regards to you winning the tournament. You started out learning the game, watching Seve, came to the United States, played at Arizona State. You've won multiple times now, but you're also now the No. 1 player in the world. How would you describe this journey to the mountaintop?

JON RAHM: I can't right now. I don't know how to describe it. It's been a goal since I was 13, 14 years old. I remember I heard a story on the radio from my swing coach back in Spain, Eduardo Celles. We were driving somewhere and he asked me what my goals were and my ambitions and this and that, and I remember telling him, I think 13 or 14 years old, it's like, I'm going to be the best player in the world, and that's what I set out to be.

Every day I wake up trying to be a better player, a better person, every single day, a better husband, and that's how I can sum it up. Any time I can join my name to Spanish history or any kind of history, it's very unique. Seve is a very special player to all of us, and to be second to him, it's a true honor.