WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 26, 2021

Jon Rahm

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. What's your protocol when it comes to giving putts in match play?

JON RAHM: Well, I try to say it loud and clear before they get to the ball. But, you know, even if it's something that I was going to give to them and they do -- I would just tell them the same thing, hey, next time just wait for me so you don't get in trouble.

But it was good. Like just wait for me to say something next time, especially if it's six inches. Sometimes if it's a two-footer with some slope maybe you can think about it, but if it's something like that, I would have done exactly the same thing Kevin Na would have done.

And then if you're on the other side, always make sure -- from the other perspective I always walk around trying to find my marker and act like I'm going to mark it just in case the other person doesn't remember that I can give you the putt. Sometimes it's happened to me before, I am so into my putt that I forget that you can give it.

So it goes both ways.

Q. Specific to your match today, you guys kind of both said the same thing yesterday about expecting a hard fight and knowing how good each other is. Is it pretty much exactly what you expected?

JON RAHM: Yeah, you know, I'm hoping I can win a match before 18 at some point, because the more holes you play, the worse it is for you technically, right.

But it was a hard-fought battle. I don't think either of us had our best. He was making putts and I was just being pretty much solid off the tee and into the green. I was just not making anything.

I was getting kind of frustrated. And then on 14, 14 obviously was a turning point. I tee up 1-down after a three-putt, hit it in the water, and I told Adam -- he acted as a therapist there -- I'm going to get all my frustrations out from here to the green, all of them out, and let's hope for a mistake from Ryan, and that's what happened.

For about 300 yards I basically got everything out, got every possible excuse I can think of out, every ounce of negative thought out of me, finished the hole, and played the last four holes of the regular round as good as I thought I could have and followed with the mojo on the last two holes of the playoffs.

That was a clear turning point.

Q. That clearly helped, getting all that out. Did that help your game moving forward?

JON RAHM: I mean, it showed. Think about the shots I hit. That tee shot on 15 was key to put in the fairway because having enough spin to that ball, just need to land it somewhere on line and it's going to go close.

And then the two shots to get into 16, home on two, the shot on the par-3, 17, was great. I just tugged it a touch and went three yards too far. The putt was on line. The drive and the chip on 18 were all good.

The only mistake I made was the putt on 18. That was just a pull, a bit of lack of commitment on the line. Everything else I played great golf, and even the way I finished it. I go and birdie probably one of the hardest pins to birdie, which is that right pin on 2.

Q. Is a day like today more physically tiring or more mentally tiring?

JON RAHM: Mentally more draining than physically. Yeah, I feel like we're all pretty fit. We can all walk 18 holes. But the stress it puts on you mentally. I think it would have been a lot worse had I let my emotions run wild after 14, right.

I kind of got a second wind thanks to that, so that's why I'm feeling as good as I am right now. I wish I had a bit more time to rest and sleep and reenergize for a possible long day tomorrow, but I feel good physically and mentally, so I think I'm in a good place.

Q. How many times do you use Adam as a therapist? How many times has that happened?

JON RAHM: Well, I think caddies are -- it's not in the job description, but it's an addendum. It's part of what they have to do is deal with us, deal with what we're saying, and especially in this sport being such a mental game. A lot of them know how to help their player get into the right mindset, and Adam definitely knows how to do that, and he's helped me out multiple times.

Today was a clear case of it. Even though I told him -- he was trying to get me to calm down. I'm like, dude, I'm just going to say it all and then tell me whatever you want, okay.

Yeah, again, I don't think it's part of the description, but it's something they all take on.