;)
Jon Rahm enters the PGA championship on Sunday within the striking distance of leader Scottie Scheffler.
Jared Tilton | Getty Images
Charlotte, nc – eleven months ago, Jon Rahm told us the truth, but he did it in the way of the roundabout he favors when he feels particularly peeved.
Was Tuesday morning at We open to the pinhurstAnd Rahm was in a personal hell. His leg was killing him, the result of an infection that came up in a serious health problem to force a medical WD, but this was not the only source of his disappointment.
Another issue seemed to be falling on Rahm: Nr. 1 World and the reign of the champion of Masters Scottie Scheffler, who was in the middle of the largest season of the last quarter century in professional golf, and who seemed to have stolen Rahm from Rahm as the other excellent golf player.
Asked in Pinhurst if he thought about Scheffler a little more during the big weeks now that Scheffler had taken to inflate fields like seedlings in a storm, Rahm finally had enough. He clashed, suck and fired.
“No. “
The message was open, and the answer was deliberately misleading. Of course He thought of Scheffler. How could he not be? Their competitive DNA was identical, and it revealed themselves in their Ruthless. Seeing both men playing, you felt as if they both believed they could bow the universe to their will. The problem was that, in the world with a lot of zero golf, only one of them could actually be. Scheffler’s appearance was a threat to Rahm’s heritage.
But Rahm did not feel like talking about the appearance of a new killer in Pro Golf again in June 2024, especially not as the questions withdrew his employment. Six months after the passage of Liv employers, Rahm’s game had not yet been translated into his new tour, and fans had begun to ask if the relationship was causal. In Pinehurst, Rahm’s position was simple: if the question was about Scottie or Liv, he did not want to talk about it.
Rahm was a little more open minded Saturday at the Championship PGA, on the same day he calmed down some of the liv’s questions shooting a great 67 and getting into a mile for the first time in nearly two years.
“I will do liv and playing worse in the diplomas had nothing to do with the place where I was playing Golf,” he said firmly. “My rhythm was just not at the level it was to be for me to compete.”
But even when he spoke, after deciding on a Sunday battle with the best player in the world, Scheffler’s question still approached. Did Rahm spend any time on Saturday seeing the manager’s table?
“I like to look at the manager’s table from day one, two, three, four,” he said in a fuss. “It helps to know where you are.”
Rahm, 6 under, had probably seen Scheffler’s name all day on Saturday, and was Of course Monitoring World Performance Nr. 1.
“In big championships, usually the crowd will tell you what’s going on,” Rahm said. “So as long as you know where you are and how many players are you, you will know what’s going on and what’s going on.”
Then, apparently, Rahm heard how Scheffler had climbed to 11 under, three pure shots of the field, playing the toughest extension of the 5 Quail Hollow holes in 5 under the money. World no. 1 will grow on Sunday possessing a considerable superiority over his liv doppelgänger – five shots forward.
Although he did not hear him from the Quail Hollow galleries, it is possible that Rahm also heard what Sunday meant for Scheffler’s legacy – pushing him into three great career wins, one more than Rahm, and two feet of career Grand Slam, the same as Rahm,
The phase, therefore, is set for one of the most significant Sundays in the latest history of Jon Rahm’s latest championship. For his employers, a Rahm victory would make his home tournament to make the training ground for many large champions, an important step in the long -term goal of LIV to sit with PGA Tour as equals. For his inheritance, a victory would testify Rahm capable of playing Scheffler’s hunter AND killer, following a player who has so far tried himself mainly incapable. In both cases, a victory would move far ahead to strengthening a legacy that sometimes appeared destined for the great predominance of the championship, but in recent years joined irritated press conferences.
“In theory, nothing (does not change). In theory, nothing,” Rahm said of his approach to Sunday. “The process, the routine does not change. The main difference is the phase, isn’t we all aware of what we are here and what is in the end and what is under discussion. This is the main difference.”
Indeed, we ARE All aware of what is under discussion. And when it came to the importance of Sunday, not even Rahm could avoid an honest answer.
“I mean, hard to say how hungry I can be for a major,” he said. “About as hungry as someone can be in this situation.”
Of course Jon Rahm is hungry. Validation is in the menu in the Championship PGA on Sunday.
A rare dish, offered at a table for one.
;)
James Colgan
Golfit.com editor
James Colan is a news editor of news and features in Golf, writing stories on the website and magazine. He manages the hot germ, golf media vertical and uses his experience on camera across brand platforms. Before entering Golf, James graduated from Siracuse University, during which time he was a caddy scholarship receiver (and Astuta Looper) in Long Island, where he is. He can be reached on James.colgan@golf.com.