Birthday boy Rahm aiming for Spain’s 5th green jacket
Seve Ballesteros. Jose Maria Olazabal. Sergio Garcia.
Jon Rahm would love to add his name to the list.
“There’s such Spanish history of champions here, with three great champions and three idols of mine,” said Rahm, who turned 26 on Tuesday. “Five green jackets go out to Spain. Hopefully, I can be the sixth.”
A twotime winner this year who rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career, Rahm’s lack of a major victory remains the biggest hole in his resume. He has come close at Augusta National, posting top 10s in his past two trips here.
And he’s having quite a week.
In practice Monday, Rahm made a holeinone on the fourth hole with a 5iron. And then Tuesday, during the traditional attempt to skip a ball over the pond in front of the 16th green, Rahm hit 4iron that bounced four times on the surface of the water, clipped the embankment and rolled all the way around the back of the green and into the hole.
“The craziest thing. The second holeinone of the week,” he said. “It could go two ways, right? Something special going on, or I’m just running out of luck already.”
If so, he would carry on a tradition that began with Ballesteros’ victory in 1980 ( he also won in ’ 83), and continued with Olazabal ( 1994, ’ 99) and Garcia ( 2017). Garcia withdrew from this year’s tournament after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Hats off: It’s rare to see pro golfers without hats, which have the dual function of shielding their eyes from the sun and showing off the sponsors that pay the bills.
But Augusta National asks players to take them off when they come into the interview room. Most are happy to oblige out of respect for the hosts of one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.
“I’m sure my hair doesn’t look exactly great right now, but luckily, I wear a hat for my job,” Justin Thomas said Tuesday. “So I’ve just got to get through this press conference and I’ll be OK.”
Briefly: This is the first time the Masters has not been played in the spring since it began in 1934. … Last year, Woods won a major for the first time when he was trailing going into the final round. … The field features only 43 of the top 50 in the world. Five players either won or moved into the top 50 since golf returned. Garcia and Joaquin Niemann tested positive for the coronavirus and withdrew. The field was set for a Masters held in April, with no additions. … C. T. Pan will have waited 561 days from the time he qualified by winning at Hilton the week after the last Masters until he tees it up Thursday. … The tournament will use a twotee start because of the smaller window for daylight in November. It last used a twotee start in 2005 because of a nearly sixhour rain delay at the start.