Jon rahm He faces from this Thursday his ninth participation in the British Open and, despite not having managed to climb to the top of a podium for ten months, It is seen at its best form since 2023 and “confident” to make history for Spanish golf.
The Spanish golfer already has a US Open (2021) and an Augusta Masters (2023) in its showcase, something that has not achieved any other European player, and To win the 153 edition of the British Open, it would become the first Spaniard to win three different 'Majors' and the second to raise the clarete jug.
Severiano Ballesteros won three Britishthe last 37 years ago, and two masters, while Sergio García and José María Olazábal went down in history when dressing the green jacket in Augusta.
“I always feel close and I trust that I am there. Last week, especially on Sunday, it was very nice. It was a very good golf round. It was, with much, my best round in Valderrama, and play it without 'bogeys', without really being in danger of making a mistake or a big mistake, apart from the last hole. So I feel good, I feel confident, ”said the Basque player on Tuesday at a press conference in Royal Portrush, a 'link' (coastal golf course) located about one hundred kilometers from Belfast, in Northern Ireland.
Jon Rahm at a press conference
At 30, 'The Lion of Barrika' is convinced that he can be the best golfer in history And, in that goal, he aspires to win a third different, which would be “an incredible dream”, as confessed last week in Valderrama on the eve of the Liv Andalucía tournament.
In 2023, he touched the glory as he was second, tied with other players, six blows to the American Brian Harman, and last year he was seventh, in the tournament that won his compatriot Xander Schauffele.
“It is never easy to win a 'major', and it is never easy to win an open”Rahm said to describe the magnitude of the challenge.
After being second in Liv Andalucía, a single blow of the champion, Talor Gooch, who cut five impacts on the last day, the Basque player stressed that he had never felt so comfortable with the sticks from the Ryder Cup and the Masters of 2023.
Although he is second in the General of the Saudi circuit, he has not won a title since September of last year, in Chicago, although he has been in the top ten, a streak that was only interrupted at the end of June in Dallas.
In Royal Portrush, he premiered in 2014 at the British Amateur and returned five years later as a professional in the Open, in which he was in eleventh position.
Despite the uniqueness of playing in a 'link', Rahm keeps good memories of Irish fields -In twice the Ireland Open in 2017 and 2019-, which makes this year's edition with view.
“Ireland and Northern Ireland have been very positive with me in my career. It has been very fun to play here, I have done it well in Portrush in the past and I have very good memories in Portstewart, so I am looking forward to that this week arrives, ”said the Biscay golfist, who will participate with two other Spaniards, Sergio García and Ángel Hidalgo.
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In his opinion, the key to playing a good role in the last great of the season is to decipher the effect that the breeze that blows in most holes will have on each impact.
“The possibilities are infinite when you face a blow. You will have all the options you can imagine. The most important thing is to understand how to control the trajectory of the ball and control the degree of turn into tough tesos against the wind,” he said.
To emulate the Ballesteros deeds in the 'British' (1979, 1984 and 1988), he assumes that he cannot pretend to imitate his game: “I do not think anyone can play in their style. Seve is the only one who could play in the style of Seve. His ability to do what he did with a golf ball is different from that of any other.”
Rahm has no doubt that winning the British Open is the maximum, because it is “the cradle of golf” and the most rooted championship, celebrating its first edition in 1860. “And that is what makes it so special,” he added before the media.
