Rahm finds perspective to go with passion and wins a U.S. Open
SAN DIEGO » Jon Rahm’s road to becoming a U.S. Open champion might have started with a pair of bogeys.
It ended with a pair of birdies at Torrey Pines that will be far more memorable. In the previous 120 editions of the U.S. Open, no one had ever birdied the last two holes for a one-shot victory.
The result was pure euphoria for Rahm, a 26-yearold Spaniard known for power and passion, and it’s the latter that always got more attention.
That’s what took him back to a month ago at Kiawah
Island. He struck the ball as well as ever and got nothing out of it. He finished the third round of the PGA Championship with back-toback bogeys and Rahm was fuming when he was asked to meet with the media.
He was short. He was angry. And he’d had enough of being both.
His emotions helped as much as they hurt in leading him to 11 victories worldwide. But he was a new father, and he felt a greater responsibility.
“I know I can perform at my best without showing my frustration so much. I made that deal with myself after the third round of the PGA,”
Rahm said Sunday. “I wasn’t happy with how I ended, and I could have handled it better. And I vowed to myself to be a better role model for my son. He won’t remember any of this because he’s only 10 weeks old. But I do.”
Nothing was sweeter than seeing Rahm take infant son Kepa into his arms as he walked off the 18th green Sunday after an 18foot birdie putt that made him a major champion and added a chapter to the short history of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
It wasn’t as big as Tiger Woods making a 12-foot birdie to force a playoff in 2008. It won’t be forgotten, either.
“Little man, you have no idea what this means right now,” Rahm said to his son on the practice range when his one-shot victory over Louis Oosthuizen was secure.
There was wonderment in his voice.
It was that change in perspective at Kiawah Island that he feels led to a closing 68 in the PGA, and an unprompted apology when he signed his card.
“It’s OK to be upset, and I’m never going to judge myself for being upset,” Rahm said that day. “But I will judge myself if I don’t conduct myself properly.”