THE 151ST OPEN

July 22, 2023

Jon Rahm

Mixed Zone

Q. Is that the best round you've ever played on a links course?

JON RAHM: Yes, that's the best round I've played on a links golf course ever.

Q. Everything seemed to come from -- you got up-and-down on the 18th, sunk the putt. Talk about the momentum that you had.

JON RAHM: Well, it felt just as good before. I hit a great putt, lipped out on 1, good putt on 2, good putt on 3, good putt on 4, made the putt on 5 and another good putt on 6. They were all feeling good.

It was just those early holes that were maybe the scorable holes the first few days because of the wind conditions. Today they were a little bit more difficult, and it was starting on -- maybe not 10, but it was starting on 11 when everything became downwind and it became a lot easier.

The wind conditions is what made the course change a little bit.

Q. You say easy to actually execute and do what you did --

JON RAHM: Easier. Yeah, 11 through 14 was playing straight in off the left the first few days and it was down off the right today, so it was a much, much easier stretch of holes.

Q. How does it feel to have a links round like this on quite a big stage.

JON RAHM: I think it stands for itself. It's pretty obvious. It's my lowest round on a links course and it's an Open Championship, right? Also the lowest round shot on this course.

Yeah, it feels really good, but it's a lot of work to do tomorrow.

Q. Would you set a target on Friday night what you thought you needed to shoot, and was 63...

JON RAHM: Never thought about a shot. The job today was to come out and give myself the best opportunity I could. Whenever you get a birdie, just thinking about one more. That's simply all you can do.

Q. Were you thinking at all about how Brian got to 10?

JON RAHM: No, no. I mean, we've all seen good rounds of golf and we've all played it. I could imagine how he did it. He played really good golf, and then you have a couple breaks that you need go your way, and it did. It's that simple.

Q. Before today did you know nobody had shot lower than 65 here?

JON RAHM: Yeah, I heard about it, yeah.

Q. Not playing with Rory, did that make it --

JON RAHM: Rory has nothing to do with it. It's just who you're playing with, that's about it.

I mean, I can tell you right now I wasn't the only one thinking that. Couldn't walk off the tee. I don't know what else to say.

Q. For those of us who have never shot 63, what does that feel like when you're coming down the stretch and you know you're going to post a low one?

JON RAHM: I don't know how to say it exactly. It feels really, really good. But we practice so hard, and at least a lot of us expect certain things, and it's almost like, okay, this is -- it gets to a point where it's like you visualise in your head and what you see is supposed to happen. Like if I do this properly, I'm going to height it here, maybe do this, and it doesn't happen often where you see those shots come out and those shots come out the way they're supposed to and put them in the spots you're supposed to. You see everything the way it's supposed to happen unfold, and it's very unusual.

Q. On 16 did you think you had a good chance on that one?

JON RAHM: On the putt? I got really lucky on the angle. It was a fairly straight putt. It had a little bit more pace than I would have liked, but I think it would have maybe gone three feet by the hole, but found the hole.

Q. The first few days you looked frustrated a lot. Was that because --

JON RAHM: To be fair, I look frustrated very often, so...

Q. Did you feel that you weren't getting your rewards in the first two days, so did you feel like something like this might happen or did you feel you played a lot better today?

JON RAHM: No, no, I was playing good golf and I knew what I was capable of. I was frustrated because the shots that -- it was basically mistakes that I made. That was it. I gave up the shots at major championships that are very costly, and that's mainly it. That's what I was feeling.

I knew I was playing better, and I knew my swing and my game felt better than the scores I was shooting. If yesterday's finish isn't an example, right? I'm 2-under, hit the fairway on 18, have a chance to finish 3-under, and make a stupid bogey from 30 yards away.

That's just a little example of it. Today was the complete opposite, obviously.

Q. How do you feel going into the last round? Do you feel you're in the mix?

JON RAHM: Well, there's a lot of golf to go. Honestly, I'm just going to enjoy the afternoon with my family, and that's about it. There's nothing to be done. Feel like I've done a lot of good work the past few weeks, and I've done a lot of good work this week, as well, and I've done what I've needed, which is give myself an opportunity.

I'm going to go eat, see my physio, and enjoy some family time before we go to bed. It's that simple.

Q. Why do you think you were able to stay more patient out there today?

JON RAHM: I think I'm a lot more patient than most people believe I am, to be honest. It's just I show my frustration a lot more than other people, but I'm extremely positive on the golf course.

Q. Will you do anything differently?

JON RAHM: No. What should I do? What else do I need to do? I can't carry momentum if I'm making bogeys. There's nothing different between the player that was there yesterday and today. Not one difference.

Q. Just a bit of context to your 63; Seve never shot 63 (indiscernible) historical moment. Put that into context.

JON RAHM: I'd rather win three times and never shoot 63. (Laughter.)

I hope that answers your question.