Aiming for the title
Rahm, world’s No. 2 golfer, looking for 1st Travelers crown
CROMWELL — Jon Rahm was asked Tuesday how the golfers playing in the final groups of Sunday’s U.S. Open will respond after that grueling tournament, then a 3,000mile flight to get ready for the Travelers Championship, another designated PGA Tour event.
Rahm focused on the champion, Wyndham Clark, who won his first major championship less than two months after getting his first tour win.
“The only one that hasn’t been in that situation was Wyndham. After winning I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care how it goes this week.” Rahm said at the Travelers Championship. “All I could tell him is to enjoy the win as much as possible. You know, if you want to focus and play this week, go ahead, but just take the time to enjoy those moments, just because, you know, they’re not easy to come by.”
Clark is in the field at this week’s Travelers Championship, one of the tour’s designated events that were started with this tour season.
Rahm sits at No. 2 in the world rankings and No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. He has won four times on the tour this year, the last one coming at the Masters in April.
Rahm then came to another designated event, the RBC Heritage. Even though it was in a bordering state from where the Masters was held, Rahm was still pretty drained after earning his second major. He also won the 2021 U.S. Open.
“I was pretty drained on that Thursday still when I tee’d up at Harbour Town, and mainly because that week was unique in how demanding it was on the weekend with all the starts and stops and the tough weather,” Rahm said. “Every time I win it takes a little bit more out of you.”
Since the Masters, Rahm has made five starts, finishing in a tie for 16th or better in four of them, including a tie for 10th at the U.S. Open.
Rahm said the Travelers Championship falls on a tough part of the sched
ule for him normally: after the U.S. Open, a time when Rahm heads over to Europe to prep for the Open Championship. But because it is a designated event — created this season to bring together the top PGA Tour players for a total purse of $20 million — Rahm is here this week.
The last time he came to Travelers was in 2020. That was the COVID-19 pandemic year when no spectators were allowed and the Travelers was the third tournament back from the tour restarting its season
after a three-month layoff.
That year, the U.S. Open was held in September. Before that, Rahm came to Travelers the two years he was offered sponsor’s exemptions in 2015 and 2016.
“They had faith in me, so every time I can I try to come back. I really get along with everybody involved with the organization of the event and the people in charge have been really good to me and my family, so it’s always a spot I try to make time for,” Rahm said. “It’s just too bad that they got put in a tough time in the schedule for me after the U.S. Open the last few years.”
Rahm’s best finish at the
Travelers Championship was a tie for 25th place in 2016 — the last time before 2020 that the Travelers did not follow the U.S. Open.
Rahm said he is feeling better “energy-wise” heading into this week than he did after the Masters. He is taking next week off.
“I’m looking forward to it, not because I need a mental break per se, but because I do need a bit of rest to then be able to attack the rest of the season,” Rahm said. We still have plenty of golf to go starting at The Open Championship.”
But right now, the focus for Rahm is getting his fifth win on tour this season and 12th overall.