Like any sport, golf is full of people who like to leave it on their opponents with a bit of banter and trash talking along the way when it suits.
We’ve seen the likes of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods get into players’ heads over the years, while the TGL has shown another side to the ‘trash talking’ in golf as well.
Still, with golf being the sport it is, we don’t quite get to see who the biggest talkers in the game are like we do with other sports like the NBA or NFL, for example.
However, it does happen, and one man who has experienced plenty of on-course banter is former Masters champ, Jon Rahm.
Jon Rahm names golf’s biggest trash talkers
Speaking in an interview with the Gabby Golf Girl YouTube channel, Rahm was asked who – in his experience – are the biggest trash talkers on in golf.
And having played across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and now LIV, Rahm was well placed to have an opinion.
“I am going to have a hard time recalling the actual lines but there are a lot of people who are really good. Phil is really good, Dustin is actually fairly good,” Rahm admitted.
“All the Spanish players I play with, we go at each other pretty hard, never in tournaments but as friends we are very hard on each other. Puig and I, if you could have subtitles on our practice rounds, unbelievable.
“Matt Kuchar has been pretty good. I think the very best one was actually Matt Kuchar, it’s a famous story.
“I didn’t hear it but I have heard it from both of them. Phil, when he had those alligator skin golf shoes, he had Masters green alligator shoes and Kuchar made a comment about them. And Phil said you only get these when you win three Masters. And Kuch, without skipping a beat, says let’s just hope I only win two.”
Why Tiger Woods is seen as the king of golf trash talking
Jon Rahm doesn’t mention Tiger Woods, but it’s well known in golf circles that the 15-time major winner likes to both rib his opponents and friends and also remind them of how great he was.
A number of players have recalled times when Woods has done just that, with Justin Thomas saying Woods let him know who was boss back in 2017.
“At the end of 2017, you know my best season on Tour, won five times. I finished winning the FedEx Cup, won a major — one of the first texts I had when I got done was Tiger, and it was, ‘Congrats, now do that nine more times, and that’s what I’ve done in my career’,” Thomas recalled.
Furthermore, Rickie Fowler has spoken of Woods being blunt with feedback to players.
“Tiger doesn’t really sugarcoat anything. He’s going to tell you how it is, whether you play poorly or you play well,” Fowler has said.
“Going from the 100% competitor and wanted to kill you on the golf course to see that transition over the last eight, ten years, giving some of his knowledge and sharing that with other players.”
Woods is also well known for messaging fellow players in the early hours when he’s at the gym, trying to entice them to be better or do more to improve.
With Rahm not naming Woods, one can only assume he’s not come across him too often in his career so far.
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