Rahm out to follow in Seve’s footsteps at Ballyliffin

Simon Lewis at Ballyliffin

As much as winning one Dubai Duty Free Irish Open meant to Jon Rahm at Portstewart last year, the thought of becoming a multiple winner of this event and emulating fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros is motivating his title defence at Ballyliffin this week.

The late, great Ballesteros won the Irish Open in 1983, 85, and 86 and, having equalled compatriots Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia in winning once, Rahm, 23, is now keen on joining a more select group.

“That would be amazing. I don’t know exactly who has won it more than once,” Rahm said yesterday at Ballyliffin.

“I know Seve has won it three times. I know Sergio won it once and I know Ollie has won it. I don’t know if Miguel (Angel Jimenez) has won it or some other players have won it but I know for sure, Seve is the only one who has won it three times.

“It’s a very prestigious event, not just because it’s a longstanding event, but what the game of golf represents to this country and as defending champion I know how much it means and I know how well it feels to be a champion here. It’s definitely a goal of mine that hopefully at some point I can win it again.”

Rahm, the highest-ranked player in the field at number five in the world, could have been getting his title defence underway at 8:20 this morning as the newly-minted French Open champion but fell victim to a clicking camera on the 12th tee at Le Golf National.

His tee shot found deep rough on the way to a triple-bogey seven and the Spaniard slipped out of contention, eventually finishing fifth but not before taking issue with the errant snapper.

“I was upset. I had every right to be upset,” Rahm said. “I think we all know not to take pictures 10 feet away right on my backswing, and it wasn’t one; it was a sequence. I was upset and it wasn’t the first time, either. We hadn’t said anything before.

“It didn’t affect my play afterwards. That rough was so thick, I couldn’t go sideways and if I try to go sideways there’s no way for me to hit it, so my only way was forward.

“I tried my best to get on the fairway and it just didn’t happen. I wouldn’t say it affected my play. I mean, I wasn’t happy, but besides 18, I think I played really, really good. Actually besides the tee shot on 18, I played really, really good coming in. I just wasn’t able to make some putts.”

When reminded that he admitted to having a short fuse, Rahm was unrepentant.

“I’m not going to change who I am. I’m not, I mean, it’s not like I have anger problems. It’s just, I mean, who doesn’t get frustrated playing this game, right? It’s just how it is.

“Everybody would have been upset in that situation. I mean, I do get mad, but move on. That’s how it is. It’s golf. There will be a next shot and try to hit the next shot you can afterwards. That’s all we can do.”

Rahm is in better mood approaching today’s first round at Ballyliffin and with the weather set fair for continuing sunshine and low wind speeds, the Spaniard sees no reason why the winning score might be as low as 20 under par.

“If we get the same weather, where there’s this little wind, I think, yeah, 20 under par is a legitimate score to win the tournament.

“It’s in such good condition. The greens are rolling so good and the fact that it’s so firm; if there’s no wind to make any kind of challenge off the tee, and somebody has a good driving week, you can have a lot of short irons in and be able to stop it somewhere close to the pin. With that wind, four or five under a day, I wouldn’t say it’s anything crazy.”