As Jon Rahm got up from his chair in the interview tent on Sunday afternoon at Quail Hollow, he took one last, quick glance at a television screen. Minutes earlier, the Spaniard had thoughtfully and earnestly analysed a stunning late collapse that took him from possibly completing the third leg of a career Grand Slam to basically being just another guy in the pack who finished well behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
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By the time Rahm was finished speaking, Scheffler already had celebrated his third major title and first PGA Championship win, and all Rahm could see were the final scores. If he was looking for his name on that short list on the screen, it wasn’t there.
“Pretty fresh wound right now,” a composed Rahm said of the gutting he experienced over the previous two hours, when he came from five shots down to tie Scheffler for the lead, only to fail to capitalize on birdie chances and go bogey-double-double over the three last holes dubbed the Green Mile. The collapse led to a two-over 73, and Rahm plummeted into a tie for eighth place—a stunning seven shots behind Scheffler.
Asked if he thought it was nerves or something else that led to his troubles, Rahm went into an extended explanation for being just off on his drives because he was trying to limit his usual fades on a course that favors draws. But the 30-year-old also said bluntly, “If there’s ever somebody that’s sitting right here that tells you nerves weren’t a part of it, they’re clearly lying. It’s the main thing we do as a professional sport; it’s controlling what goes through your mind.”
He later added, “I think it was a bit of nerves. Can’t pinpoint exactly right now. I’ll go back to [look at] what happened. I didn’t feel like I rushed anything. I didn’t feel like the process was bad.”
As Scheffler struggled to a two-over 37 on his front nine, Rahm looked like the most confident player on the course. He had moved into contention on Saturday with a 67. Along with Bryson DeChambeau as major champions lurking, Rahm had the potential for a charge, though five shots behind seemed like a huge gap to overcome against the world No. 1.
But after opening with seven straight pars, Rahm got hot, with birdies at 8, 10 and 11. And when Scheffler bogeyed the ninth, the deficit was erased, and they were tied.
“God, it’s been a while since I had that much fun on a golf course,” Rahm said with a grin.
“You know what position you’re in because, even if you don’t want to look at leaderboards, the crowd lets you know,” he said. “They’re so excited, it doesn’t matter, they’ll tell you. … Like on 12 green when I hit my putt, at the same time I heard a cheer from 10; I was fully aware that was a Scottie birdie. I just could tell; you’re there enough times.”
Indeed, the Scheffler’s birdie at the par-5 10th put the Texan back in the lead, and he wouldn’t give it up again. Meantime, Rahm felt a dagger when his birdie putt at the 13th lipped out, and after that the putter and driver took turns torturing him. He missed birdie putts of nine and 12 feet at 14 and 15; pulled his drive at 16 and made bogey from the greenside bunker; watched his tee shot at the par-3 17th scoot through the green into the water; and pulled his drive into the creek on 18 to eventually make a 6.
Jon Rahm tosses up his putter after missing his putt on the 16th hole. Scott Taetsch/PGA of America
“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said Rahm, winner of the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters, who noted without prompting that this was the first time he’d held a lead in the final round of the major and not closed it out.
As he weighed the mistakes, Rahm also sought to note the positives. Since the 11-time PGA Tour winner left for LIV Golf ahead of the 2024 season, he’d somewhat fallen out of the general sporting public’s consciousness, and in the majors, where he was again playing in deeper fields, the results were all over the place last year—T-45 in the Masters; missed cut in PGA; WD in US Open with a toe injury; T-7 in the Open Championship. While in LIV, Rahm had a strong season, winning twice.
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At the Masters in April, Rahm fumed often in a first-round 75 but recovered to shoot six under the rest of the week and tie for 14th. On LIV this season, Rahm doesn’t have a win, but has top-10s in all seven starts.
“I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the US Open,” Rahm said.
When his press conference was almost over, Rahm glanced at his watch and wondered if he might make it home in time to tuck his kids into bed. He also recalled a thought he’s heard from Charles Barkley. “Like, I play golf for a living. It’s incredible,” Rahm said. “Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today? Yeah. But I just to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder, where somebody, if they have a bad day, truly bad things happen. I’ll get over it. I’ll move on.”
