Jon Rahm has admitted that his decision to play in this week’s RBC Heritage is to honour a commitment, even though his appearance comes just days after he won The Masters.
As one of the PGA Tour’s top players, the 29-year-old is expected to appear in most designated events. This week’s Harbour Town tournament is one of those higher-profile tournaments, so a strong field will participate despite it arriving so soon after the first Major of the year.
Players are allowed to skip one of the events, and Rahm admitted he’d considered it before ultimately deciding to stick to his word. He said: “It did cross my mind, but I made a commitment earlier in the year, and I want to honour that commitment. I also, talking to Kelley, I put myself in the shoes of not only the spectators, but the kids as well. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play good or bad, just want to be there.”
While 17 of the world’s top 20 are in the field this week, there are some notable absentees, including World No.3 Rory McIlroy, who withdrew earlier in the week. Former World No.1 Jason Day and 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama, each of whom played last week, are also not appearing in South Carolina.
Still, Rahm explained he isn’t playing to make up the numbers, despite fatigue setting in after his Augusta National win, and has his sights set on claiming the Tartan Jacket. He said: “I still intend to hopefully do the jacket double and taking this one home. I’m not going to parade myself, right?
“But it did cross my mind, and obviously I think it would have crossed anybody’s because I was so tired. But that’s why I decided to come in yesterday afternoon and take it easier and just give my body a rest before I got into competition mode.”
It’s understandable why Rahm was so tired after his Masters win. As well as his first Major title since the 2021 US Open, the occasion was emotional for several other reasons, which weren’t lost on him.
He explained: “There’s so many factors that made it so, so special. Being Seve’s birthday, Easter. Last Sunday it was Seve’s birthday, a Spanish man won, which is Sergio. Adam, our player-caddie number was 49, right? April 9th. Seve’s 40-year anniversary from his second win. The list goes on and on and on. There’s so many things that made it special in that sense.”
While this week’s tournament is unlikely to provide the highs of last week, Rahm laer reiterated his desire to win. He said: “I can promise you that every time I tee it up in a tournament, it’s going to be to win. It may feel better or worse, but I intend to try my hardest to win.”
