ACCIONA OPEN DE ESPAñA PRESENTED BY MADRID

September 26, 2024

Jon Rahm

Club de Campo Villa de Madrid

Quick Quotes

Q. 68 to start your week here at Club de Campo, how happy are you with that round?

JON RAHM: I was telling somebody before the round, I think it was my family, even maybe yesterday. Just flying in yesterday afternoon, not having touched a club in a while, and you know, between being sick and hospital beds, I was like -- with the wind forecasted, if I could somehow break 75, I'll be happy and see if I can work myself into the tournament.

You know, I keep putting it in play for the most part, and giving myself good looks. Made a few really good par putts on 6 and 11 that saved the round. Had a great finish and I find myself with a great score that is rather, I would say, unexpected.

Q. How testing were those winds out there today? You were looking at the trees quite a number of times today?

JON RAHM: Yeah, it's hard. There's quite a bit of elevation change on a few of the holes here, right. So a lot of times, the wind funnels through the hole, so whatever you feel on the hole is different to what it might be doing above.

You have to play that to put that into account and think about what type of ball flight you're going to try to hit.

The second hole is a perfect example. I hit it a little bit lower than I expected instead of being pushed to the right and hurt, almost got helped, right. But I think that works both ways. I think sometimes we get lucky and other times we don't.

Q. With the conditions out there today, how tough was it to stay patient? With each bogey you made, you made a birdie straightaway.

JON RAHM: I wish I could do it on purpose. Luckily only had two bogeys today, right, one of them being a par 5.

I think the one on 17 was very important. Because you make a bogey after what I felt like was a good swing off the tee but the wind just didn't push the ball right, and then you get to a difficult hole. It's 195 yards with the crosswind into the wind, and the green, it's tiny, just tiny. There's nowhere there's nowhere to miss it where it's easy, and to hit a good shot and make the putt was huge.