Jon Rahm will play in his fourteenth Major starting this Thursday, the fourth Open Championship. It will be held on the Dunluce Course at the Royal Portrush GC in Antrim, Northern Ireland, a course he’s not altogether unfamiliar with, although he would need to revert to a few years back when he had his first and only encounter there.
It was in the year 2014, during a British Amateur tournament. Jon managed to make it past stroke play, but he was eliminated in the first match play. You don’t even have to know the golfer from Barrika too well to gather that a final outcome like that one, modest results keeping in mind his ambitious goals every time he sets foot on a new course, a new tournament, is just one more incentive.
An added motivation is having made a minimum of top five in all the other three Majors he’s competed in. He finished in fourth place in the Masters and in the PGA, and third in the US Open in Pebble Beach. Rham’s stats in the Majors get better every time. In fact, he’s made four top tens in the last seven Majors he’s played in, a number that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Jon is getting more and more comfortable on the links. It’s precisely one of the biggest points in the evolution of his game. “I’ve changed a lot as a golfer since I played here last in 2014. I’m more mature, I hit the ball farther and I play better with the wind and on the links. I think the Open is a Major where experience is the most important part, seeing as how they’re courses that aren’t typically played, so I hope to do it better this year”, he assures in the Open qualifier.
Jon has no other goal in sight than to win. “Every time I come to a Major, it’s to win, so that’s what I’m going to set out to do. My real goal is to at least create the option to fight for the win on Sunday, something that I’ve managed to achieve in other Majors, one way or another”, he explains.
The weather is another important factor in any British Open. For now, the forecast says that it will be somewhat sporadic, with periods of showers and sun. As far as the wind, it’s also hit or miss. It seems as though the worst is expected on Friday afternoon, although it can change at a moment’s notice. Jon will play on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.