{"id":12048,"date":"2021-10-29T20:03:52","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T18:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golfinspain.es\/b\/?page_id=12048"},"modified":"2025-05-09T13:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T11:00:32","slug":"jon-rahm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.golfinspain.com\/b\/spanish-players\/jon-rahm\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Rahm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

Highly-Competitive Spanish Star with a Finely-Tuned Sense of Karma<\/h4>\n

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Born \u00a010\u00a0November 1994 in Barrica, Vizcaya (Basque\u00a0Country)<\/strong>
\nTurned Pro 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon Rahm and a goldfish might not seem to have a great deal in common. And in fact they don\u2019t, except for one trait.<\/p>\n

After just missing out on making the play-off in the first event of the 2021 FedEx Cup Finals, Rahm bounced back with an opening 64 in the second leg the following week. Later, explaining to a bemused press why he had been able to immediately put the disappointment behind him, he referred to a popular American TV series, Ted Lasso.<\/p>\n

In one of the first episodes of the show, which is about an American football coach who changes codes to manage a European football (soccer) club, Lasso suggests one of his struggling players think of himself as a goldfish. They are, he explains, one of the happiest animals on earth \u201cbecause they only have a 10-second memory\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say,\u201d said Rahm, \u201cfor all those \u2018Ted Lasso\u2019 fans out there, be a goldfish. If you haven’t seen the show, you’ve just got to check it out. Played great golf last week, just a couple bad swings down the stretch, and that’s the most important thing to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

The observation would have surprised many observers, as Rahm had gained a reputation for having something of a fiery temperament in his first years as a pro. In reality, however, it had been more a case of wearing his fiercely competitive passion on his sleeve \u2013 much in the mode of Spain\u2019s greatest (so far, at least) player, Severiano Ballesteros.<\/p>\n

Over the course of 2021, fans were able to view a more mellow side to Rahm after, in December 2019, he married his university-era girlfriend (Kelley Cahill), then, on the eve of the 2021 U.S. Masters, they welcomed their first child (Kepa).<\/p>\n

This newly reflective and philosophical persona was especially evident after Rahm was forced to pull out of the prestigious 2021 Memorial Tournament while holding a seemingly impregnable six-stroke lead after the third round, when he was diagnosed with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Shrugging off the setback, two weeks later he became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open, his first major championship title. Nevertheless, his patience was further tested as he prepared for the Tokyo Olympics following the British Open, when another totally unexpected positive result cost him the chance of competing in the golf event and winning a medal for Spain.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, he gained some bitter-sweet consolation when, together with Sergio Garc\u00eda, he was the mainstay of Europe\u2019s otherwise catastrophic 2021 Ryder Cup campaign.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 2021 season, Rahm was named the U.S. PGA of America\u2019s player of the year, won the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average on the PGA Tour, and topped the Tour money list \u2013 another first for a Spanish golfer.<\/p>\n

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