Winners’ Circle
Spaniard Jon Rahm produced a scintillating 62 at Lahinch on Sunday to claim a second Irish Open victory on one of the country’s great links courses
Three Rolex Series victories now, two in Ireland, and the love affair continues ....
Yeah, I don’t know what it is.
Every time we come, I just feel good all week. I feel so welcomed and so honoured to be supported by the Irish crowd the way I am that I really want to play good in front of them. It’s definitely a motivator. It was my first European Tour win and Seve won three times, so to become a multiple champion, it’s an honour and just a humbling experience to come and play in front of this crowd. Faldo, Mcilroy, Olazabal, Seve have all been champions at this event, and to put my name on there is really special.
Do you feel like you’re playing the best golf of your career right now?
Definitely the most consistent. My 11th top ten this year, I believe. It’s not doing anything necessarily better or special compared to my first two years, but I think I’m a little more level-headed, a little bit more mature. I’m slowly growing up and all that helps. I’m only 24, so there’s still a lot of growing up to do. That’s the main difference in my golf game in this year and years past. I can’t remember making as many threes as I have today. My ball-striking has been really good the last few months. It was really good at the US Open and really good at Valderrama but my putter wasn’t co-operating as much as I would have liked. It was the same on Thursday and Friday here, but on Saturday and Sunday I gained a lot of confidence with the putter and that was the main reason I was able to make all those threes.
Would you like to see the best of the Americans come over for The Irish Open?
It would be amazing to see some of the best players in the world come over, because they really are missing some of the best golf courses I’ve ever played in my life. Portstewart, the front nine, is arguably the most beautiful front nine I’ve ever played, and I can honestly say of all the courses I’ve played in the world, this [Lahinch] is probably one of the best. Some might say some of the holes are a little quirky. I just say it’s different. It’s unique. It’s traditional and you need to play really good golf to shoot low around here. We got really lucky – it wasn’t windy. If it was, we would have seen a test of golf, because none of those shots are easy. It’s a great tournament. It’s a great host country. They are missing out on a lot. They would have a lot of fun here.
Will you be back next year going for number three?
Do I even need to respond? [laughs] I can’t say again how much I like the country of Ireland. Hopefully I’ll get my third one and tie Seve. That’s my goal from now on coming to this event – to have as many wins as Seve.