Jon Rahm has had an historic season to this point, he is far and away the number one player in the world and has been on fire all summer. He won his first major earlier this year at the US Open, and has notched top-10 finishes in nine of his last 11 starts—including the Memorial, where he led by six shots thru 54 holes before he was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID.
During his stellar season, Rahm has dealt with his fair share of adversity. He missed time due to COVID two separate times, the second positive test kept him from competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Rahm has played just three events since his withdrawal at The Memorial, but he has made them count, finishing in the top-3 in all three starts, including his win at Torrey Pines.
Between COVID, the hurricane that forced a Monday finish last week, Rahm is simply hoping for a normal week.
I'm looking for just a normal tournament week at this point. Just one week where it's just uneventful. Golf aside, uneventful,” Rahm said ahead of his BMW Championship title defense. “We don't have hurricanes, COVID or anything related like that.” It's hard to categorize the year just because of how much has been going on, especially the last two months. It's been a lot.
The increased challenge could’ve broken any other player, but Rahm is far from any other player. But Rahm is taking it all in stride. And he credits recently becoming a father for the first time for helping him keep things in perspective.
“There were some moments that could have taken me down that if anything lifted me up and pushed me towards greater things,” Rahm said. There’s been a lot more positives. It could have been a lot worse than it's been. Becoming a father for the first time and having a healthy wife and a healthy boy, it’s been eventful in a positive way.”
In the modern age of the PGA Tour, every player has a team of coaches, trainers, and agents to help them play their best each week. On the course, Rahm’s caddie Adam Hayes has helped Rahm throughout his career, as the two have formed quite the partnership and their personalities work well together.
“Adam is amazing. What's made it work so well is that early on the best way I can say it is we're both no-BS guys. If you have something to tell me, tell me to my face, and it's reciprocal,” Rahm said. “So he will tell me if he has something to tell me, and I will tell him if I have something to tell him. We're not going to shy out when something comes up.”
