MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2024

Jon Rahm

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Very pleased to welcome the 2023 Masters champion, Jon Rahm. Jon, welcome back to Augusta National. The last time you were in this room you were wearing a Green Jacket for the first time. Could you maybe reflect on the experience of winning the Tournament and maybe when it all sunk in?

JON RAHM: It's so hard to put that experience into words. I had heard from a few other players, a few Masters champions and a few that have won other majors rather than the Masters, that they said there's something different, something special when you win one.

I can confirm it's absolutely true; that the jump from no majors to U.S. Open was smaller from than what it was from the U.S. Open to the Masters. It is the biggest tournament in the world, with no offense to anything else, but it's probably the most followed one by people that don't even play golf.

That's I think what makes the difference. Your notoriety goes up quite a bit. But it's also the tradition. By being the only venue, we keep coming back year after year, all the traditions, all the shots, all the stories make it so, so special.

In my case, last year being Seve's birthday, Easter, and all the many coincidences that happened to happen on that Sunday is what made it so special.

It's, I think, the one memory that I keep remembering. Obviously, all the family moments at the end were great, but I still have a picture where I'm holding my son, and I'm giving a hug to my dad and my son's in between us. And just to see that moment of me and my dad and having my son there was quite special. And that's why I say it's hard to put it into words because I really can't describe it.

THE MODERATOR: That's great. Thanks. We'll open the interview session with questions in English, and the second portion we'll reserve for Spanish. So, questions, please.

Q. As the champion of last year, I believe you have been wearing your Green Jacket on many, many occasions throughout the year. So my question is: What are your best memories wearing the Green Jacket outside of Augusta National? How is your feeling now as you need to return it to the club?

JON RAHM: Best memories? Well, you do hear a lot of things that people did to remember having the jacket. In my case, I mean, I kept it in my closet in a spot where I would walk by it every single day, and obviously inevitably every once in a while you put it on and take it off and put it back there.

The most memorable one for me has to be the first pitch. Just doing the first pitch in the World Series is quite unique. Sort of having to compete for the jacket is about as nervous as I've ever been related to that jacket, having to be in front of all those people trying to not make a fool of myself.

Q. You made some comments to BBC about understanding the gravity of your decision to go to LIV Golf. When you did that, was part of that motivation to try to bring the game together, and did you expect there to be kind of more movement toward that by now?

JON RAHM: I understood my position, yes. And I understood that it could be, what I hoped, a step towards some kind of agreement, yes. Or more of an agreement or expedited agreement.

But, unfortunately, it's not up to me. But I would hope it would be something that would help expedite that process. But at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself.

Q. I'm wondering, as you look back on the period of time since you went over to LIV to now, how you would describe the experience and what are the things that you maybe miss about not being around the TOUR anymore and around the guys and competing against the Schefflers and Rorys, et cetera.

JON RAHM: You know, actually, that's a good question. I haven't given it that much thought because I've been so focused on what I have to do myself.

I mean, there's no secret, I've mentioned a few times, there's some venues that I miss not being at, not only because I won but just because I love it, right? And that's the reason why I played well in those tournaments. Not being at Palm Springs, Torrey, Phoenix and L.A. wasn't the easiest. And I'll keep saying that because those are venues that I absolutely love.

And driving by Phoenix as often as I had to, seeing the stands, and knowing that I wasn't going to be there was quite hard. Right? I still love the PGA TOUR, and I still hope everything the best, and I still hope that at some point I can compete there again.

Yeah, I mean you do miss competing against certain people, right? But at the end of the day, I've had so much to focus on the dynamic a little bit has changed, obviously. I'm a team leader, a team captain, to an extent. It's still golf. I can't really influence what they do on the golf course.

And a lot of good, a lot of positive to look forward to. I've had a lot of fun playing in those events. The competition's still there. Yeah, they're smaller fields, but you still have to beat some of the best players in the world and you still have to play at the same level you have to play on the PGA TOUR to win those events. So that doesn't change.

It's been fun to be part of a team. It's one of the driving factors for me to make the change. It's fun to be a part of a family and part of a common goal as a team, right. And enjoying those team victories has been really, really fun.

Usually on a Sunday, like last week, I would not have been thrilled by the way I finished, not that I would have been sad or upset, but I wouldn't have been thrilled and, you know, had a team goal to actually celebrate. I mean, that is actually kind of fun.

Something that I was jealous of from many other sports, right. When you win as an individual, right, like take it here, for example, last year, you do all your commitments, you wake up the next day, and that's it. It's not like there's a shared emotion after that like you see when a team maybe wins a Super Bowl or the NBA Finals or the World Series.

Q. You mentioned team. Are you concerned about -- it's a year plus away -- about what the Ryder Cup situation would be for you since that's so special to your heart?

JON RAHM: Am I concerned? Yeah, I hope I can be there. I hope I play well enough to earn my way there. And if I have to be picked, I hope I can get picked.

Yeah, I want to be there. That's definitely something I want to do and I don't want to miss.

Q. I know last year you said you were kind of concerned or you were interested in what the Champions Dinner would be like and that it might be a little tense. Do you have any of those same concerns for this year as you prepare to host?

JON RAHM: Well, everybody I talked to seems very excited about the menu, which, if anything, has put a lot more pressure on me, even though I'm not cooking, right. So, yeah, I'm definitely a little nervous.

It is quite daunting to think about the room you're going to be in and having to stand up and talk to that group of players, right. I mean, it's basically all the living legends in this game, active and non-active. Everybody who's been somebody in this game is there. So as wonderful as it is to be a part of, it's still, yeah, a little nerve-wracking for sure.

Q. And Adam's status for this week? I know he didn't caddie for you on Sunday, but what's his status for you on the bag this week?

JON RAHM: Well, he's here. And he had a little bit of a stomach bug, apparently. Takes a lot for him not to caddie because I've heard multiple times, "I don't know if I can make it," but I don't know if today would be the day, and he's always been there and he's always made it through, even though he's struggled. That Sunday was the first time he's -- he hasn't done it. And that's quite concerning for me because that guy will battle through anything.

He seemed better yesterday, though. He seemed quite a bit better. And hopefully a little bit better today and tomorrow.

As of right now, I don't have a backup; so I hope he can make it on Thursday.

Q. When Nicklaus repeated in '66, he hadn't won anywhere that year coming in. Faldo, same thing in 1990. Tiger in 2002 had won at Bay Hill. But their schedules were virtually the same. Yours is very different. You've played a lot less competitive rounds. So how have you augmented what you've done this year to offset the fact that you haven't played as much?

JON RAHM: Well, you're saying like playing a little bit less is a bad thing. Which I wouldn't think it is. If anything, for the -- if I had would go based on how I feel today on a Tuesday, I feel physically better than I did last year. But then once competition starts, it doesn't really matter. Once the gun goes off, whatever you feel is out the window; you got to go out there and post a score.

So it wouldn't be the first time. It wouldn't be the first time we hear somebody not feeling their best and winning. The first one that comes to mind is Ben Crenshaw after he lost his swing coach and to come back after being at the funeral and win it.

So it's not something that I have in mind, but I do feel -- I do feel fresh and ready for it.

Q. I want to ask you about the state of golf and where we are today. Particularly, if you had a voice, what would you want the four majors to try and do to ensure that we have all the best players in the world playing? Because at the moment the ranking system does not enable that.

JON RAHM: I'm going to say what I've said: There's a lot of people a lot smarter than me that could figure this out in a much more efficient way. But the obvious answer is that there's got to be a way for certain players in whatever tour to be able to earn their way in.

That's the only thing can I say. I don't know what that looks like. But there's got to be a fair way for everybody to compete.

Q. If you had a voice, what would you advocate for and how?

JON RAHM: Again, I don't know because I don't know how they -- they'll need to figure out a way to evaluate how the LIV players are doing and how they can earn their way. And I understand there's less players and you can't give, right, 10 people or 15 people a start, but there's got to be a way for some players to earn their way in. That's the best way I can say it. I just don't really know what that looks like.

Q. Can you talk about your legacy in the game and what that means to you?

JON RAHM: Well, luckily it's still quite early in my career to be thinking about legacy. So it's not really something I have in mind constantly.

But I've said it many times, one of the great things about Seve in Spain is how much he grew the game in Spain. When he started playing golf, there was, I think, 15,000 licensed golfers in Spain. And by the time he passed away, there was over 300,000.

So however I can influence that to increase and have more playing opportunities in Spain and more people involved in the game, in this wonderful game we all love, I think that would be a success in my mind, however that looks like.

Q. Do you think it will change now that you left the PGA TOUR, your legacy?

JON RAHM: I mean, will it change? Yeah. It's a bit of a detour on my path. But change can be better.

Q. I wanted to ask you about that in Miami on Sunday, the last birdie putt that you made, I've never seen you celebrate for a tied fifth place like you did on Sunday. Can you just explain to us what those emotions meant and the team component of it?

JON RAHM: Well, I wasn't thrilled after playing the first hole the way I did, hitting the best drive of the day and then half-shanking 4-iron into the water to make a bogey on a par-5. That was definitely not in my mind.

So going into 2, that's where the team aspect of things as players come in and become so exciting. I'm playing the second hole with the same type of nerves as if I was almost playing for the tournament. We have one- or two-shot lead at the time. I couldn't see the scoreboard, and I knew that at least I had to 2-putt, and it wasn't the easiest 2-putt.

So to see that putt trickle and trickle and finally get to the hole was very reassuring. Obviously I didn't know what was going on on the rest of the course and what they were doing, but I think that gave us a two-shot lead at the time, until Kieran made his bogey on 1, and in my mind I thought it was done. I was basically hoping we wouldn't have any mistakes at that time.

And that's why I celebrated. I mean, yeah, it's a team win. It matters. And that's where I think this can be a positive in many ways, right. And as players, it's very fun to be playing for that as well.

Q. I was wondering just this week how being the defending champion, doing the Champions Dinner tonight, how has that affected sort of your preparation? Has it made it more difficult, or do you just kind of see it same as every year?

JON RAHM: It hasn't made preparation any more difficult. The Champions Dinner, you just have to work around it, right. Just got to make sure I'm ready at a certain time, which I almost made the mistake of not being on time because so used to not having anything to do on Tuesdays that I scheduled my practice round a little too late yesterday and had to start backtracking to a few people. So I'm hoping I can be there on time today.

But besides that, no, I mean, we always have things to do. In the past on Tuesdays, I've had other sponsor engagements as well. So it actually doesn't feel that different to that extent. Obviously, it's a much bigger deal to be part of that dinner. But, no, I don't feel like it makes a difference.

Q. Do you think you're looked at this week as the reigning Masters champion or as a LIV player?

JON RAHM: Both.

Q. What do you think would be the first? I mean, what's your best guess when people lay eyes on you?

JON RAHM: From what I've experienced so far, as a Masters champion, yeah.

Q. Brian Harman was here yesterday. He was talking about how important it was for his game to be tested against the pressure of a PGA TOUR event. I know it's been a short sample in terms of your time on the LIV Tour, but do you feel the same level of pressure in spite of the team event in a LIV event, the level of intensity of feeling the pressure?

JON RAHM: Yeah. Yeah. To me, that's an argument that, if you haven't experienced being playing in a tournament, you can't really understand. I understand there's less people. I understand the team format's a little different. I understand we're going shotgun and things are a little bit different to how they are in a PGA TOUR event. But the pressure's there. Like, I want to win as bad as I wanted to win before I moved on to LIV.

So, yeah, going down the stretch when you're in contention is the exact same feelings. That really doesn't change. The same way it was when I went through the Spanish Open or many other events where the field might not be up to the level that it could be on a designated event, right, that doesn't really -- winning is winning, and that's what matters.

Q. Piggybacking on the Green Jacket question earlier, how does it feel knowing that the only way you get to take it back off property is if you win again?

JON RAHM: (Laughing). I think if I were not to win this year, I'm probably not going to regret -- I'm going to regret not wearing it more often and just taking it everywhere for just -- for whatever, just because you have it.

But, yeah, it is a weird feeling, right. Essentially, it's the only trophy you can't really keep at home. You do get a trophy, but the one that we all care about is the jacket. I think it's something really special to know, when you win, that the only jacket that ever leaves Augusta National is that one. I think that's the most special part of all.

So, it's a little bit -- is it added motivation? No, because you still -- I mean, winning is winning, right. But it would be quite special to be one of the few players that have won it more than once and be able to have it at home for more than one year.