Jon Rahm joined the elite list of Sergio Garcia, Seve Ballesteros, and Jose Maria Olazabal to become the fourth Spanish player to win the prestigious Masters title in 2023. Back in March 2024, the 29-year-old Spaniard revisited his 2023 Masters victory. He recalled that after receiving the green jacket, he was with his family in the clubhouse. Around 1 AM in the morning, he asked the officials if he could visit the Augusta National locker room. After he received the permission, he took his family to the most holy place at the venue where champions’ names were sculpted on the lockers.
Jon Rahm said that he and his dad were standing on the balcony and were watching out the Magnolia Lane. While they were standing there, somebody took a picture of them. He revealed that picture to be the WhatsApp picture of his parents. As quoted by Golf.com, the Spaniard said,
“My dad and I walked out to the balcony looking down Magnolia Lane, what you could see in the pitch darkness. They actually had one of the coolest pictures I have. I didn’t realize the camera was up there, and somebody from the corner took a picture of my dad and I talking, me with the jacket on, out on the balcony, and it’s one of the better pictures we have. I think it’s my dad’s or my mom’s WhatsApp picture, which is really cool to see, and then having Kelley up there for that, as well, is special.”
As he concluded his story, Jon Rahm stated that he did not know if he could ever recreate a moment like that again with his family. He extended his gratitude to have lived that champion moment at the 2023 Masters with them.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to recreate that again with any of them, but I’m really glad that they let us do that and they got to see the history of it,” Rahm said.
Jon Rahm Recalls “Missing Shots” At 2023 Masters
The Spaniard’s campaign at Augusta National was nothing less than magical. After all, what would be better than a 7 under 65 in the opening round of a major tournament? He may have shot a poor 1 over 73 round on Saturday and finished a strokes deficit of the 54-hole leader, Brooks Koepka. But Rahm outclassed everyone on Sunday with another brilliant 3 under 69 round to win his first green jacket.
While revisiting his 2023 Masters victory, Jon Rahm stated that he thought he had played great all week. But after watching the summary again, he felt there were many missed shots at Augusta National which was unusual for his caliber.
“What stood out to me is I had this image in my mind of how great I played all week, which I did,” Rahm said, “and then I watch the actual summary, and I couldn’t help to think, man, I missed a lot more shots than I thought I did. Which I guess is a good lesson to have in mind, right, not only that I could play better in theory, but the fact that there’s a mental lesson there.”
His victory at Augusta National in 2023 was a result of sheer determination and hard work. Although he may have joined the LIV Golf league, he will be gearing up for title defense at the 2024 Masters in the coming week.
