Jon Rahm has had a year to smile. That is why this Friday, when he left the green of Valderrama 18 on his way to the press conference, despite having missed the cut with +3 on the day and +10, he was in a good mood. “Ask for croquettes,” he shouted at his grandmother, leaning out of a clubhouse window, before going on to reel off what had been two hard days in Cadiz.
“I knew that at a certain point I had to do -6 and there was little hope. If someone had entered between 8 and 13 … It’s a shame that he plays badly. It has been a very long year,” said the Biscayan., who misses the weekend for the third time in 18 regular European Tour tournament appearances. The tumble that has given him one of the most demanding courses in the world does not mean that he will not continue trying to succeed there. “I love Valderrama, it is a beautiful field and I will keep coming back whenever I can,” he confessed.
And he acknowledged that, without wanting to make “excuses”, he has come to this appointment already very justified of strength after a long and intense season: “More than the body, the mind does not give me more. I can assure you that the next four weeks I will hang up the sticks and do anything else. I need a break. Since June 2020 I have not stopped. We had two big ones in autumn and winter and then the change of equipment, that instead of resting I put in many hours to play well with him “. “It is the first time in my life that I can say that I do not want to see a golf club. With all that I have played and all the good that has happened, I need to rest. At least I have to spend two weeks without thinking about golf. I have lost the first crawls of Kepa (his son) and how he has learned to eat, so I have four weeks of fun, “he added.
After two tournaments in a row in Spain that have highlighted the massive reach that his figure already has, Rahmbo said that he will continue to play in the country where he was born because he understands “that he can help Spanish golf.” “I understand the impact that my signature can have on any kid, like the ones I had in his day on the shirt. That impacts and motivates, and one of them may be the next great reference in Spanish golf. I have to keep coming, and also that way I find out how things are going around here and the impact I have. I am realizing that a little in quotes I mess it up, “he added.
The fact that he chatted with Pau Gasol on Wednesday during the Pro Am has fueled comparisons with the Catalan as a national sports reference. “Hopefully I can be as good an example as him”, he tempered the Basque before leaving for a new vacation that was necessary.
Cabrera Bello: “I’m four behind the leader, it’s not a drama”
“I charged a little today. I have missed many shots on the green. But it has not been any drama. I am four strokes behind the leader and there are two days left. Nothing has happened here,” said Cabrera Bello optimistically. after a hard day at the office (he made +3 for par and went from second place on Thursday to 13th).
“I am playing well. Today he played in the afternoon, with the greens more trodden. I have missed putts without feeling that I had thrown them badly. In 17 I have risked and when he takes risks he does not always come out,” he explained. The canary feels very supported by the people, spurred on by his victory last week in Madrid: “I love the support of the people. It is an honor and a responsibility. It means that I am doing things well and I will continue to fight until the last hole”.
Like Rahm, Rafa confessed that “weeks are heavy” at this point in the season, before joking with the Basque’s statements: “It’s a bit squishy. If I count the tournaments that he has played and those that I have played, although it is true that he has had more weekends and therefore more pressure “. “Last week gave me so much energy that I don’t feel tired. It was a breath of fresh air. This is a very demanding field, which is mentally tiring. But I don’t think about it, the train keeps going forward,” he concluded.
