Jon Rahm finishes The Masters Tournament 2024. (Foto: Getty)
Jon Rahm finishes the Masters Tournament 2024 with a weak final round of 76 shots. He made the same score on Friday, when conditions where much more difficult at the Augusta National Golf Club. His round places him at a total of nine shot over par tied for 45th place.
Jon Rahm with weak finish at The Masters Tournament 2024
Jon Rahm, who entered the tournament as the defending champion, was not able to make a convincing effort to take home another Green Jacket. And even with perfect conditions on Sunday he had a mixed first nine holes and finished the tournament with two double bogeys on the second nine holes.
But he kept having difficulties on the greens, losing a total of six shots from hole 8 onwards.
Jon Rahm on his final round: “A couple of bad swings”
Q.Talk about things you want to improve, the things that didn’t really work this week.
JON RAHM: I kind of went out there to try some things to see how it felt. Irons felt better, and off the tee felt good, to be honest. It felt pretty good. Just a couple of bad swings in there. There’s a lot of things that contributed to me not having my best week, and one of them I think was obviously on the greens, which is not easy. Never really had the pace of the greens, and a couple too many three-putts. That’s the easiest way to fix it, but that’s, I think, very subjective to this golf course and the conditions we’re playing on.
Q.Maybe the more positive things is describing what it meant to come here as a defending champion, everything that happened?
JON RAHM: Well, it’s harder to talk about it when I’ve played this bad. It’s been nice to have some receptions walking up to some tees no matter what my score was and seeing the appreciation. But when you don’t have your best week, it’s not that — it’s hard to have to stay now to put the jacket on somebody else and never really ever have a chance.
Jon Rahm in the final round of the Masters Tournament 2024. (Image: Getty)
The final day of the Masters Tournament 2024 has gone exceptionally well for Jon Rahm so far, considering the defending champion’s performances in the previous round. But with this extraordinary birdie, he probably tops all previous shots in his tournament.
Hole-out for birdie: Jon Rahm with a magic shot at the Masters Tournament 2024
After a poor tee shot between the trees on the right-hand side of the seventh fairway, Jon Rahm could only save himself with a flat chip back onto the fairway. The par no longer seemed safe at this point and a birdie was certainly out of the question from the Spaniard’s perspective. But, as we all know, one should never give up hope. From 80 yards, Rahm achieved a feat with his wedge and the ball went into the hole for a birdie.
Jon Rahm at the Masters Tournament 2024. The Live Blog. (Image: Getty)
The 2024 Masters Tournament will be a special one for Jon Rahm. As last years champion the Spaniard will attempt to defend his title, just months after his transfer to the LIV Golf League. In last years Masters he secured his win with a solid last round, finishing the tournament at -12 with a four shot lead over fellow LIV golfer Brooks Koepka.
Since turning pro back in 2016 Jon Rahm captured several top 10 positions across the four major tournaments. With a fourth place both at the Masters Tournament and the PGA Championship in 2018 he stepped close to a major titel, but had to wait for another three years befor he checked in his first title. At the 2021 US Open Rahm took the win, all while landing in the top 10 of all other majors in that season. Just two years after that in 2023 he landed his first green jacket at Augusta National.
In a tight race with major-specialist Brooks Koepka Rahm entered the last round in Augusta in 2023. He kept his nerves and locked in a -3 69 round, while Koepka struggled and endet up tied in second place with Phil Mickelson.
Rahm’s chances at the Masters Tournament 2024
Looking back at Rahm’s past result at the seasons first major the odds for a title-defence are everything but bad. With strong top 10s for years now Jon Rahm is always a player to consider for a major title.
Altough the Spaniard is just five tournaments in to the new season and his new golf home, the LIV Golf League, he already delivered some amazing results. With three top five finishes and two other top 10s he demonstrated a good form with his “Leagion XIII” in various locations around the globe.
Jon Rahm will try to defend his title at The Masters 2024. Here are his Tee Times. (Photo: Getty)
Jon Rahm got off to a weak start to The Masters Tournament 2024 on the first two days; the third round saw him improve his scores slightly as he played his best round at the tournament to date. Still, the defending champion urgently needs to improve on Moving Day to put pressure on the leading group. A look at the tee times of the Spaniard and his competitors.
Jon Rahm at tee-off in the third round of the Masters Tournament 2024 in Augusta. (Photo: Getty)
Jon Rahm faced a demanding third round this saturday at The Masters Tournament 2024. Despite a steady start with pars on the first six holes he experienced increasing difficulties, dimming hopes of defending his title.
Steady start for John Rahm in third round at the Masters Tournament 2024
The round began promising for Rahm, who completed the first six holes at consistent par. However, with the seventh hole, the challenges began and he recorded a bogey on a par-4. Rahm concluded the front nine with a 37 (+1), marking a deterioration from par.
Recovery on the Back Nine with Challenges
On the back nine, Rahm managed to score the opposite scorecard and play pars until the 16th hole. A glimmer of hope was a birdie on the seventeenth hole, followed by a concluding par on the eighteenth. These led to a score of 35 (-1) for the back nine, helping him to finish the day with an overall score of 72 (E).
Jon Rahm on Challenging Conditions and Missed Opportunities
Playing conditions were a central topic in the interview with Jon Rahm. ” There is still a couple spots where if it gusted still some heavy winds. Obviously a little bit easier, but the golf course is quite firm and fast also, so that’s always going to make things a little more interesting.,” Rahm describes the challenges of the course. When asked about his progress of the week, he commented on his performance of the second round on friday. “Yesterday was terrible. Today I kept in in play off the tee, which is going to do a lot.”
“Gave myself plenty of chances; just didn’t make them,” he shared in frustration, but commented on a few highlights of the day. “Luckily made the one on 17 to have the only birdie of the day, and the one par putt on 6. Besides that, it was just seeing a couple fall in. I had a few really good chances on 3, 4, and 5. 8. Couple others. 12, 13, 14, just — 15, none of them wanted to go in.”
Rahm also expressed his thoughts about his progress during the last couple of rounds of the Masters Tournament 2024: “Well, it’s — those first two days I think I said it yesterday, it’s just too hard of conditions to not have your swing. Being a little lost and not being under control of what was going on makes it so much harder.”
Jon Rahm in round 2 at The Masters Tournament 2024. (Photo: Getty)
For a moment, towards the end of round two, it looked like defending champion Jon Rahm might not make it to the weekend of The Masters Tournament 2024. After coming out of Amen Corner he suffered a double bogey on 14 after his second shot landed somewhere in the patrons and he continued with a three put after the slope of the Augusta greens as well as the wind carried his ball far away from the hole. After that odyssey he looked dangerously close to not making the cut.
The Masters Tournament 2024: Jon Rahm dangerously close to the cutline
But Rahm, who conquered Augusta before, bounced back with two birdies, getting back the shots he lost on 14, giving himself a better outlook on the weekend. A bogey on 17 brought him into a precarious situation again but the cutline shifted, giving him some breathing room with a total score of 5 over par. Rahm signed a 76 on Friday and sits at a tied 44th place on the leaderboard, eleven shits behind the leading trio made up of Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau.
Jon Rahm on making the cut: “a last ditch effort at the end”
Q.Tell us a little bit about your round today.
JON RAHM: It’s a very bad day not to be comfortable with the swing, that’s for sure. Yeah, just fighting it all day, never comfortable. I didn’t give myself a lot of chances, and it was a last ditch effort at the end to try and make the cut. Luckily I was successful in doing so.
Q.Talk about your reaction to those two birdies.
JON RAHM: It’s exactly that, no other choice. Make just too many mistakes when I put myself in good position. To just see one putt go in is nice and then a bonus on 16.
Still managed to stretch myself out to a three-putt on 17. So it’s not easy out there. Got a lot of work to do tomorrow if I want to have a chance on Sunday.
JON RAHM: Very. A couple times questioning myself why we were out there, especially when I got to 18 and saw the whole front of the green just full of sand. It’s rolling a little bit different. I understand they want us to finish.
I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on 11 green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult.
We got it in. Hopefully I can just make up some ground tomorrow.
You just put the ball down, and it’s very close to moving. Not only that, how long did it take us to play? Over six hours to play just because they had to blow the greens in between groups, and then when you get to a group, people stepping back and back in. It’s just, again, borderline.
It was very, very close. It’s about as hard a golf course as I’ve seen in a very long time.
Jon Rahm finished the first round at The Masters Tournament 2024 one over par. (Source: Getty)
Last year’s winner Jon Rahm is one of the top favorites for The Masters Tournament 2024, but the Spaniard struggled with the conditions on the first day. Rahm made a few mistakes on the back nine in particular.
Jon Rahm over par after the first round at The Masters Tournament 2024
After the start of the first day had already been postponed by more than two hours due to a thunderstorm, the players had to contend with the wind despite the sunshine. Jon Rahm was no exception.
The Spaniard got off to a good start and recorded his first birdie on hole 3, but fell back to even par straight away. Nevertheless, Rahm played his way to two under par on the first half of the course until the problems began. On the second half of the course, the wind had become stronger and stronger and Rahm had to record another bogey on the par-4 10th. After losing another shot on the 14th, Rahm briefly gained another stroke before having to record a final bogey on the 18th. At one over par, Rahm is already a few shots behind the leader Bryson DeChambeau, who leads the field at seven under par.
In his post-round interview, Jon Rahm reflected on his first round as the reigning Masters champion, acknowledging the challenges of Augusta National. “It’s a difficult golf course. That’s all I can say. It’s not easy,” he remarked. “You’re not really having the luxury out there of being able to miss shots, especially tee shots.” Rahm expressed disappointment with his performance on the back nine, admitting, “Unfortunately on that back nine I missed a few too many shots. Never really in a good position to give myself the best chance for birdies and ended up with what could have been a little bit better of a score. It’s just too bad. Bad swings are bad swings, but I think 4 and 17 could have been avoided. Those two three-putts could have been avoided.”
When asked about his surprise at the low scores, Rahm’s response was mixed. “Yes and no,” he said. “There’s always somebody who seems to come out on Thursday and shoot 7-under no matter the conditions.”
Jon Rahms WITB for the Masters Tournament 2024. (Image: Getty)
Last years Masters Tournament Champion Jon Rahm returns to Augusta National. In his golfbag is an array of old and new club from his longterm partner Callaway. With the new Ai Smoke series and the new Chrome Tour golf ball Rahm trusts the 2024 innovations coming from Callaway in Augusta National.
Jon Rahm served Spanish tapas at the Champions Dinner of The Masters Tournament 2024. (Source: Instagram @themasters)
The Champions Dinner is traditionally held on the Tuesday before the Masters. The first Masters Champions Dinner was organized by Ben Hogan in 1952. Since the following year, the event has become a tradition at the club. Only the winners of the Masters are invited, with the exception of a few personalities such as Bobby Jones, Clifford Roberts or the President of Augusta National Golf Club. As a special honor, the reigning Masters winner, who is inducted into the Masters Club on this evening, may choose the menu for the dinner, but must also pay for it. At the Masters Tournament 2024, this honor goes to Jon Rahm, who served his favorite dishes from spanish cuisine.
The Masters Tournament 2024: Jon Rahms Champions Dinner
Jon Rahm took his guests on a journey to his Spanish homeland, more specifically to the Basque Country. A selection of tapas and pinchos was served as an appetizer during the cocktail reception: Idiazabal cheese with black truffle, tortilla de patatas, chistorra sausage with potatoes, chicken croquettes, traditional lentil stew based on Rahm’s mother’s recipe and, as a highlight, a fresh Iberico ham.
The menu continued with a basque crab salad followed by either basque ribeye steak or pil-pil style turbot. Finally, there were milhojas. A puff pastry with vanilla pudding and only very small layers. As the cake was also served at Rahm’s wedding, this course was a foregone conclusion for the Spaniard shortly after his victory.
A Night of Tradition: Jon Rahm joins the Masters Club
The annual Champions Dinner, hosted by Ben Crenshaw, saw Rahm take his place at the head of the table, alongside veterans and icons of the sport. Larry Mize, the 1987 champion, described the evening as both great and emotional, emphasizing the significance of honoring not only Rahm but also the legacies of Seve Ballesteros and Jackie Burke, who was remembered fondly by the attendees.
For Rahm, it was a momentous occasion, not only as the newest member but also as the first representative of LIV Golf to host the dinner, bridging the gap between traditional PGA Tour players and those associated with the emerging league. The evening began with Crenshaw extending a warm welcome to Rahm, presenting him with a symbolic gift—an inscribed gold locket in the shape of the Masters Club emblem. It was a gesture of acceptance and acknowledgment of Rahm’s place among the golfing elite. Stories of Seve Ballesteros echoed throughout the room, with Bernhard Langer sharing a captivating tale from the 1983 Ryder Cup. Langer recounted Ballesteros’ remarkable shot from a bunker.
Amidst the celebration, the passing of Jackie Burke, the 1956 Masters Champion, was also acknowledged, adding a bittersweet note to the evening. Burke, a revered figure in golfing history, left behind a legacy that continues to inspire generations.
Jon Rahms Interview before the Masters Tournament 2024. (Image: Getty)
As defending champion Jon Rahm of course has to talk about his year with the green jacket. In his pre round interview the Spaniard talk about the difficulties preparing for the Masters Tournament 2024 with a full schedule, the LIV Golf League comes up as well.
Jon Rahms Pre-Round Interview at The Masters Tournament 2024
THE MODERATOR: The last time you were in this room you were wearing a Green Jacket for the first time. Could you maybe reflect on the experience of winning the Tournament and maybe when it all sunk in?
JON RAHM: It’s so hard to put that experience into words. I had heard from a few other players, a few Masters champions and a few that have won other majors rather than the Masters, that they said there’s something different, something special when you win one.
I can confirm it’s absolutely true; that the jump from no majors to U.S. Open was smaller from than what it was from the U.S. Open to the Masters. It is the biggest tournament in the world, with no offense to anything else, but it’s probably the most followed one by people that don’t even play golf.
That’s I think what makes the difference. Your notoriety goes up quite a bit. But it’s also the tradition. By being the only venue, we keep coming back year after year, all the traditions, all the shots, all the stories make it so, so special.
In my case, last year being Seve’s birthday, Easter, and all the many coincidences that happened to happen on that Sunday is what made it so special.
It’s, I think, the one memory that I keep remembering. Obviously, all the family moments at the end were great, but I still have a picture where I’m holding my son, and I’m giving a hug to my dad and my son’s in between us. And just to see that moment of me and my dad and having my son there was quite special. And that’s why I say it’s hard to put it into words because I really can’t describe it.
Q.As the champion of last year, I believe you have been wearing your Green Jacket on many, many occasions throughout the year. So my question is: What are your best memories wearing the Green Jacket outside of Augusta National? How is your feeling now as you need to return it to the club?
JON RAHM: Best memories? Well, you do hear a lot of things that people did to remember having the jacket. In my case, I mean, I kept it in my closet in a spot where I would walk by it every single day, and obviously inevitably every once in a while you put it on and take it off and put it back there.
The most memorable one for me has to be the first pitch. Just doing the first pitch in the World Series is quite unique. Sort of having to compete for the jacket is about as nervous as I’ve ever been related to that jacket, having to be in front of all those people trying to not make a fool of myself.
Q.You made some comments to BBC about understanding the gravity of your decision to go to LIV Golf. When you did that, was part of that motivation to try to bring the game together, and did you expect there to be kind of more movement toward that by now?
JON RAHM: I understood my position, yes. And I understood that it could be, what I hoped, a step towards some kind of agreement, yes. Or more of an agreement or expedited agreement.
But, unfortunately, it’s not up to me. But I would hope it would be something that would help expedite that process. But at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself.
Q.I’m wondering, as you look back on the period of time since you went over to LIV to now, how you would describe the experience and what are the things that you maybe miss about not being around the TOUR anymore and around the guys and competing against the Schefflers and Rorys, et cetera.
JON RAHM: You know, actually, that’s a good question. I haven’t given it that much thought because I’ve been so focused on what I have to do myself.
I mean, there’s no secret, I’ve mentioned a few times, there’s some venues that I miss not being at, not only because I won but just because I love it, right? And that’s the reason why I played well in those tournaments. Not being at Palm Springs, Torrey, Phoenix and L.A. wasn’t the easiest. And I’ll keep saying that because those are venues that I absolutely love.
And driving by Phoenix as often as I had to, seeing the stands, and knowing that I wasn’t going to be there was quite hard. Right? I still love the PGA TOUR, and I still hope everything the best, and I still hope that at some point I can compete there again.
Yeah, I mean you do miss competing against certain people, right? But at the end of the day, I’ve had so much to focus on the dynamic a little bit has changed, obviously. I’m a team leader, a team captain, to an extent. It’s still golf. I can’t really influence what they do on the golf course.
And a lot of good, a lot of positive to look forward to. I’ve had a lot of fun playing in those events. The competition’s still there. Yeah, they’re smaller fields, but you still have to beat some of the best players in the world and you still have to play at the same level you have to play on the PGA TOUR to win those events. So that doesn’t change.
It’s been fun to be part of a team. It’s one of the driving factors for me to make the change. It’s fun to be a part of a family and part of a common goal as a team, right. And enjoying those team victories has been really, really fun.
Usually on a Sunday, like last week, I would not have been thrilled by the way I finished, not that I would have been sad or upset, but I wouldn’t have been thrilled and, you know, had a team goal to actually celebrate. I mean, that is actually kind of fun.
Something that I was jealous of from many other sports, right. When you win as an individual, right, like take it here, for example, last year, you do all your commitments, you wake up the next day, and that’s it. It’s not like there’s a shared emotion after that like you see when a team maybe wins a Super Bowl or the NBA Finals or the World Series.
Q.You mentioned team. Are you concerned about — it’s a year plus away — about what the Ryder Cup situation would be for you since that’s so special to your heart?
JON RAHM: Am I concerned? Yeah, I hope I can be there. I hope I play well enough to earn my way there. And if I have to be picked, I hope I can get picked.
Yeah, I want to be there. That’s definitely something I want to do and I don’t want to miss.
Q.I was wondering just this week how being the defending champion, doing the Champions Dinner tonight, how has that affected sort of your preparation? Has it made it more difficult, or do you just kind of see it same as every year?
JON RAHM: It hasn’t made preparation any more difficult. The Champions Dinner, you just have to work around it, right. Just got to make sure I’m ready at a certain time, which I almost made the mistake of not being on time because so used to not having anything to do on Tuesdays that I scheduled my practice round a little too late yesterday and had to start backtracking to a few people. So I’m hoping I can be there on time today.
But besides that, no, I mean, we always have things to do. In the past on Tuesdays, I’ve had other sponsor engagements as well. So it actually doesn’t feel that different to that extent. Obviously, it’s a much bigger deal to be part of that dinner. But, no, I don’t feel like it makes a difference.
Q.Do you think you’re looked at this week as the reigning Masters champion or as a LIV player?
JON RAHM: Both.
Q.Brian Harman was here yesterday. He was talking about how important it was for his game to be tested against the pressure of a PGA TOUR event. I know it’s been a short sample in terms of your time on the LIV Tour, but do you feel the same level of pressure in spite of the team event in a LIV event, the level of intensity of feeling the pressure?
JON RAHM: Yeah. Yeah. To me, that’s an argument that, if you haven’t experienced being playing in a tournament, you can’t really understand. I understand there’s less people. I understand the team format’s a little different. I understand we’re going shotgun and things are a little bit different to how they are in a PGA TOUR event. But the pressure’s there. Like, I want to win as bad as I wanted to win before I moved on to LIV.
So, yeah, going down the stretch when you’re in contention is the exact same feelings. That really doesn’t change. The same way it was when I went through the Spanish Open or many other events where the field might not be up to the level that it could be on a designated event, right, that doesn’t really — winning is winning, and that’s what matters.
Q.Piggybacking on the Green Jacket question earlier, how does it feel knowing that the only way you get to take it back off property is if you win again?
JON RAHM: (Laughing). I think if I were not to win this year, I’m probably not going to regret — I’m going to regret not wearing it more often and just taking it everywhere for just — for whatever, just because you have it.
But, yeah, it is a weird feeling, right. Essentially, it’s the only trophy you can’t really keep at home. You do get a trophy, but the one that we all care about is the jacket. I think it’s something really special to know, when you win, that the only jacket that ever leaves Augusta National is that one. I think that’s the most special part of all.
So, it’s a little bit — is it added motivation? No, because you still — I mean, winning is winning, right. But it would be quite special to be one of the few players that have won it more than once and be able to have it at home for more than one year.
The full Interview from Jon Rahm before the Masters Tournament 2024:
