Jon Rahm loves the large stage, the large crowd, the large second. The Olympics present one further alternative in a yr marked by his departure to Saudi-funded LIV Golf, and the Spaniard arrived on the Paris Video games with a shot of much-needed confidence.
Rahm held on to win the LIV Golf occasion in England on Sunday, extending his streak to eight consecutive years of profitable someplace around the globe since his first full yr as a professional.
“It was vital for a lot of causes,” he mentioned Tuesday. “However having finished it, whenever you put your self in place the following time … I’ve been there, finished it not too long ago. So you’ve that good reminiscence of it being finished, so it’s all the time a little bit of an additional bonus.”
Bother is, not many seen.
LIV Golf United Kingdom was mentioned to be a sellout and had one among its bigger galleries of the yr. However the breakaway league nonetheless doesn’t have a community tv deal and protection has been minimal in contrast with the PGA Tour. Rahm was one of many larger tales as a result of it had been since April 2023 since his final win on the Masters.
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Now it’s a matter of extending these profitable emotions to a different brief discipline — 60 gamers on the Olympics in contrast with 54 gamers at LIV — with a far stronger forged of characters.
He tied for seventh within the British Open two weeks in the past, a vivid second in what in any other case was a darkish yr within the majors for Rahm. He narrowly made the minimize on the Masters. He missed the minimize within the PGA Championship. He had a foot an infection knock him out of the U.S. Open.
After which he confirmed some life at Royal Troon earlier than ending 15 months with out a win.
The Olympics would get his consideration as a result of a constructive COVID-19 check the day earlier than he was set to go away for Japan knocked him out of the Tokyo Video games in 2021.
There’s additionally that small matter of the large stage.
After this week, Rahm should wait 249 days till he tees it up in opposition to all the most effective gamers in April at Augusta Nationwide. For many who didn’t qualify for the Olympics, like Bryson DeChambeau, the wait was even longer.
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Solely the 4 majors carry collectively the world’s finest. The Olympics is a bonus with a discipline that features Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
“I don’t know if that makes it extra significant,” Rahm mentioned. “Since I haven’t performed the Olympics earlier than, it means quite a bit to be there. It’s one thing particular. You would say it’s a bit of bit extra as a result of we solely get so many possibilities to play in opposition to one another.
“Everyone knows it’s a reasonably large stage,” he mentioned. “As a competitor, you wish to win the largest tournaments. It’s good that this yr we get an additional week to get pleasure from that.”
Rahm is amongst seven gamers from LIV Golf within the Olympics, though he’s the one one assured of being in any of the majors subsequent yr.
Rahm has nothing however the warmest reminiscences from Le Golf Nationwide — the positioning of his Ryder Cup debut in 2018, which ended with him taking down Tiger Woods in singles.
He largely remembers the primary day, warming up subsequent to a horseshoe-shaped grandstand that had 88 rows to the very high.
“You may hear the group singing early within the morning, in the dead of night, and simply the ambiance. All the ten,000 to twenty,000 individuals across the gap, that was fairly particular,” Rahm mentioned.
It’s totally different now, after all. There is just one grandstand on the course, lots huge, stationed behind the 18th inexperienced. Worldwide Golf Federation officers say golf bought all its tickets, they usually count on some 20,000 spectators.
That continues to be to be seen till the opening spherical begins Thursday. Nevertheless it’s the Olympics, and it’s a robust discipline, and it’s a giant stage, simply how Rahm likes it. And it’ll his final one of many yr.