Jon Rahm’s Open Championship ended with a birdie on the 72nd hole, but it was an underwhelming tournament overall.
Rahm shot a one-under-par 70 in the opening round and followed it up with a disappointing 72 on Friday.
His respective scores of 69 and 70 in rounds three and four were not enough to fight his way into contention over the weekend.
The Spaniard was no match whatsoever for Scottie Scheffler at Royal Portrush, although he recently explained why he takes inspiration from the world number one.
- READ MORE: Jon Rahm shares what he was saying to the players in his group about slow play at The Open
What Jon Rahm ‘keeps reminding himself’ about Scottie Scheffler
Rahm is a former world number one and two-time major champion (2021 US Open and 2023 Masters), so he knows what it takes to reach the summit of the sport.
But Scheffler is hitting new heights at the moment, which are comparable only to Tiger Woods in the 21st century.
However, Rahm shared after his final round at the Open Championship that “he reminds himself” that Scheffler was not always at this level.
The 30-year-old remains “optimistic” that he can replicate Scheffler’s recent success in the foreseeable future.
“Very few players have been able to do what he’s done,” Rahm said. “He’s won three majors in three years. Won nine times last season, and he keeps going on. He’s doing what everybody wants to do.
“What I keep reminding myself is that he was able to turn things around drastically. From not being able to close out early on some of the chances he had to getting it done often. If he’s been able to do it, all of us are able to do it.
“I’ve definitely played really high, and I’ve had my battles against him head to head, and it’s always been a lot of fun. I’m optimistic that I can get to that level as well. Obviously, it’s not easy, but I’m optimistic it can be done.”
When Jon Rahm realized Scottie Scheffler was ‘world-class’
Scheffler has only dominated the sport for the last two seasons, but he had already been an excellent player for a few years before.
Rahm revealed that he gained so much respect for the American golfer when he lost to him at the 2022 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
“Well, he won the Phoenix Open, was it 2021, for the first time,” he added. “He’s always been really good. I think it was ’20 or ’21, and he had an incredible finish, and he finished close to 5th in the FedExCup and started showing really, really good stuff.
“In my case, I got a firsthand taste of how good he can be at the Ryder Cup on Whistling that Sunday. I didn’t necessarily play badly. I just never really had a chance to win.
“I think it’s after that a lot of his really good play came, right after that year. So ’22 on, obviously, when he won the Masters in ’22, you have to acknowledge him as a phenomenal player. Even before that, he was already world-class.”
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