Jon Rahm, on his Hawaiian debut in 2023: “I want to give another ‘major’ to my country”

Jon Rahm attend the journalists press conference before the Sentry Tournament of Champions (Tournament of Champions, without more) of PGA Tour and spoke all, with light and stenographers. The Basque came to this important event to inaugurate 2023, by the way there is only one Spaniard in the list of winners, Sergio García champion in 2002ambitious after closing out a good 2022, with seven top 10 finishes in his last eight appearances around the world.

Let’s remember that won the Mexican Open (So ​​he’s playing this week at the par-73 Plantation Coruse in Kapalua, on the island of Maui, Hawaii), the Spanish Open and the dubai world, with a 4th place finish in his only tournament on the PGA Tour 22-23 played in South Carolina (CJ Cup). Last year he was beaten by an ‘aussie’ punch cameron smithabsent here when he was enrolled at LIV Golf): 258 shots (-34) by 259 (-33).

Three wins, six top 3s and 13 top 10s in 23 tournaments in 2022 is a balance to be satisfied with, but Barrika is more demanding this 2023. “I’m quite ambitious, so I can’t always achieve everything I set out to do.” In this sport, if you don’t win as much as you want, you can interpret that as a bad year. But it’s hard, the most successful golfer of all time won 30% of the time, right? That’s what Tiger is. So it’s something subjective, in my opinion. There are many things you can do to consider a year to be positive. Of course, you want to win tournaments, that’s all there is to it. The only thing I didn’t do last year and I wish I had done is compete better in the ‘majors’ and give me more chances. So that’s the goal for this year, I hope to win the second one and give my country one more,” Rahm told the media.

He then elaborated on why he is out of contention every Sunday of a Grand Slam, and that is that he hopes to be more comfortable with his swing than he was in 2022. “For those who don’t believe, I struggled with my swing most of the year no I was as comfortable as I was in 2021 and it showed. So when you go to a tournament where you have to be better in all aspects, these mistakes show up. I just didn’t feel as fluid as I wanted. I gave myself a chance to win as many times as I would like. In the fall things got a little better. I felt like I was playing better than the results are saying. Maybe when the PGA Tour season ended and I rested, I’ll go back to playing more excellent”, highlighted the Biscayan.

Respect to LIV Golf

Regarding the Tournament of Champions, he explained that “is it an advantage to play in a field of… 39 players? We are competing for the same number of FedEx points as any other week and a big prize compared to others. They are huge bonuses and you only have to beat 38 players, which is less than any other event. I think it’s great that they allow players to get into the Tour Championship that’s here as well also the winners of the tournament. Maybe they could change the name of the tournament, but I don’t think “That matters. It’s right to have the best of the year here and going to Atlanta is a success. We have a limited field, it’s a bit of an All Star, and you can take advantage of it to start the year on a good note.”

Finally, he did not refrain from talking about LIV Golf. “I think we all know where we are. There are still some players who will choose to move to LIV, I think. But a lot of us are focused on the direction the PGA Tour is going. They are making the necessary changes to adapt to it’s a new era and I think it’s the best for everyone. It’s going to be a different year, starting with the calendar and all the ‘elevated’ tournaments (with higher prizes) on the PGA Tour. I think the Masters Dinner of Champions will be a little more tense than in the past. However, I want to go there and see what it is like. It’s a shame the US Open doesn’t have it. But yes, it will be an exciting year, we all want see what’s going on,” Jon said.

Finally, he downplayed the possible friction between the players, once friends, now more rivals…: “I haven’t noticed any difference in treatment at the Grand Slams since last season. If there is a problem with LIV Golf players , I just don’t treat them anymore and that’s it. In my mind, as I said before, I respect their choice and my friends will continue. with them. If there is more noise, more media will be made than to the players, because if there is, it can be avoided,” he concluded.