Golf

Masters champion Jon Rahm feels ‘Seve was pulling for me’

Rahm’s victory was the sixth for Spanish golfers at the Masters, following in footsteps of Ballesteros, Olazábal and Garcia

Scottie Scheffler, the 2022 Masters Tournament champion, helps Jon Rahm put on his green jacket after he won the Masters Tournament at Augusta National. Photograph; Doug Mills/The New York Times

Mon Apr 10 2023 - 06:59

Jon Rahm hailed his Masters victory as “incredibly meaningful” after securing a second major title on the 40th anniversary of his idol Seve Ballesteros claiming a second win at Augusta National.

On what would also have been the 66th birthday of his fellow Spaniard, Rahm carded a closing 69 for a four-shot win over Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson rounded off by the kind of par on the 18th of which Ballesteros would have been proud.

“History of the game is a big part of why I play and one of the reasons why I play, and Seve being one of them,” said Rahm, whose father took up golf after watching Ballesteros captain Europe to victory in the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama.

“If it wasn’t for that Ryder Cup in ’97, my dad and I talk about it all the time, we don’t know where I would be or where as a family we would be.

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“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it’s incredibly meaningful.”

Rahm’s drive on the 18th failed to reach the fairway after hitting a tree and bouncing back towards the tee, but the former US Open winner hit a superb third shot and holed from four feet for par.

“To finish it off the way I did, an unusual par, very much a Seve par, it was [unintentionally] a testament to him, and I know he was pulling for me today,” Rahm added.

“This one is for Seve. I knew he would be up there helping and help he did.”

[ Masters: Jon Rahm conjures up magical final round to claim first green jacket at Augusta ]

Rahm was embraced behind the 18th green by two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal while the fourth Spaniard to win at August, 2017 champion Sergio Garcia, also triumphed on April 9.

Stats behind Jon Rahm’s Masters victory

- Rahm’s victory was the sixth for Spanish golfers (Ballesteros two, Olazábal two, Garcia one, Rahm one). It ties South Africa for most Green Jackets of any country outside the United States.

- Rahm becomes the first European player to win the Masters and US Open in his career.

- He is just the sixth player to win both the Masters and US Open before the age of 29 (Spieth, Woods, Nicklaus, Nelson and Guldahl).

- Rahm made double bogey on his first hole of the tournament, only the second player in history to win the Masters after doing that, following the footsteps of Sam Snead in 1952.

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