After ending a barren run of 539 days without an individual tournament win at LIV Hong Kong on Sunday (Mar 8), Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm now has his sights set on another milestone at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore — back-to-back victories for the first time since his double at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express in 2023.
“I think I’ve only done it very few times in my career that I’ve been able to go back-to-back, and usually they’re spaced out with weeks in between, not back-to-back weeks. It would be a huge accomplishment. I hope I can give myself the chance on Sunday,” the Spaniard said at a press conference ahead of the Mar 12-15 tournament at Sentosa Golf Club.
Jon Rahm’s breakthrough win was all the more significant as it banished the demons of consecutive near misses, following four runner-up finishes in consecutive individual LIV Golf events (Chicago, Indianapolis, Riyadh and Adelaide) stretching back to last August.
Even after being mired in a disagreement with the DP World Tour over his involvement with the breakaway LIV Golf circuit, a dispute that has cast doubt over his hopes of featuring at the Ryder Cup in 2027, the two-time major champion was able to maintain his focus at the Hong Kong Golf Club to finally break his duck.
“I think, like anybody else in their job, you just need to learn how to compartmentalise… There’s some things that I can’t control. If I can’t control them, I really shouldn’t be worrying about it. What I can control is what I do on the golf course, my routines, how I prep, how committed I am to every step of the way.”
“In essence, it’s kind of like a freeing feeling that I get when a lot is going on off the course that you get on the course, and the only thing that matters is that, so you can let things go.”
Having also helped extricate seven fellow players stranded in the war-torn Middle East region via a chartered private jet, Rahm was able to ensure Lee Westwood, Anirban Lahiri, Thomas Detry, Sam Horsfield, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk and Caleb Surratt, along with a caddie, were able to arrive safely in Hong Kong ahead of the tournament start.
Detry ended up sharing the overnight lead with Rahm and Harold Varner III heading into the final round in Hong Kong.
“It was a massive, massive relief to have those guys land on Wednesday. Up until they landed and I saw them in person, there were still some nerves that night from Tuesday to Wednesday, being up virtually all night looking at the flight tracker, making sure they were taking off, making sure they were okay, making sure they were out of the path of any possible bombing… But I could feel a lot of relaxation after they landed.
“That’s why I think when they landed, it was just, let go of everything else and just play.”
He will want to recreate the same “freeing feeling” as he takes on the course where he finished tied-fifth last year.
“It’s one of those situations where you kind of need to ball strike the rest of the field to death, if you can, because the greens are so good, anybody that’s putting well is going to be able to make putts. Those are arguably the best greens we see all year, and good putters are always going to have a good day.
“You need to make sure your ball-striking is up to par so you can give yourself a lot of good chances.”
But returning to the winner’s circle has given Rahm a shot in the arm.
“I’ll say I think I’ve been putting really well. That’s been a huge help, making more putts from mid-range. It’s something that’s always going to help a lot. But I’ve been playing really, really good golf in general, so I’m really confident in every part of my game,” he said.
And with the perennial question of April’s The Masters Tournament on the lips of observers, the 2023 champion Jon Rahm insists he is in no hurry.
“You all must think the Masters is tomorrow, because I feel like it’s quite — we still have two more events.”
“Very happy with how I’ve reacted to Thomas Pieters tying me and me making those four birdies on the back nine and doing what I needed to do when I needed to do it. Those 13, 14, 15 were about as flawless as I can play, and I can strike the ball. Very happy about that. Which is always going to be a huge confidence booster going into Augusta,” he added about his final round birdie blitz in Hong Kong that put him in the driver’s seat for the title.
“It’s in our mind… we still have this week to take care of before we can think about the Masters, so trying to focus on that.”
