THE MODERATOR: Jon Rahm is with us now at the 107th PGA Championship. We have time for a handful of questions, so let's get right to it.
Q. Well-played. You must be very happy. Tell us how you reflect on where you are right now going into the fourth round, and I sense you're really hungry for another major title. Tell us just how hungry.
JON RAHM: I mean, hard to express how hungry I may be for a major, about as hungry as anybody can be in this situation.
Very happy to be in position again. Don't know where I'll be. I'm assuming I'll be at least one shot back starting tomorrow but that's a great position. This golf course is tricky and one shot is nothing on 18 holes.
Very happy with the state of my game. I think today was the round that I knew I was capable of. Those first two rounds felt very confident, and just did everything a little bit better.
So just very excited again to be in this position and looking forward to hopefully having a good Sunday tomorrow.
Q. How do you feel you've evolved as a golfer and a player over the last three or four years?
JON RAHM: Well, if we go back four years, we go from zero majors to two. So the experience does help, having been in that situation.
It's hard to say exactly because I could come up with so many things of why I think I'm better. But I would say that the main one being having been there and having done it is obviously the biggest difference from four years ago to now.
Q. I think this is your best round in a major since you joined LIV, certainly better position going into a Sunday. Is it a process getting to this point, and do you feel vindicated given a lot of people suggested that move might hamper your ability to be in this position in these four tournaments?
JON RAHM: Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf. My swing was simply not at the level it had to be for me to compete. It's easier to post a score on non-major championship courses and venues, and I think when you get to the biggest stages like this one and these courses, those flaws are going to get exposed, and it did.
There's been weeks where I was able to play better, like The Open last year. The Masters obviously wasn't a good start, but it got better as the week was on, and I'm still working and trying to get my swing to a better spot.
But I would say even 2023, after winning the Masters, I did not play good at all until the Ryder Cup, right. So I think the problems began earlier than people think. But I'm now getting closer to a position of being comfortable. I think this week so far and this round has been a show of it.
Q. You spent a lot of time in contention this year but I'm wondering what's different about the final round at a major from like a preparation standpoint or a competitive standpoint?
JON RAHM: In theory, nothing. In theory, nothing.
I don't think my process will change, my routine will change at all. I will do exactly the same thing here for an event here, for a regular LIV event, for a regular PGA TOUR event, DP World Tour event. The process, the routine doesn't change.
The main difference is the stage, right. We are all aware what we're here for and what's at the end and what's at stake. That's the main difference.
Q. We hear from a lot of guys that approach a final round differently. Some will look at the leaderboard and pay attention to the other guys in the field and some will focus in on their own game. Wondering where you fall on that?
JON RAHM: I like looking at the leaderboard from day one, two, three, four. It helps to know where you're at. To be fair, in major championships, usually the crowd will tell you what's going on.
So as long as you know where you are and how far certain players are, you're going to know what's going on and what's happening. You don't really need that much help from the leaderboard. Yeah, I like to know maybe not so much on that front nine, on the first 10, 11, 12 holes, but going down the stretch, there's some holes where knowing your position does help maybe make certain decisions.
Q. You mentioned the experience winning major championships over the last few years. How can that experience help you in the moment tomorrow?
JON RAHM: It's all circumstantial, right. I think it all depends on each shot. I think the main difference might be going, possibly, tonight and tomorrow morning, just kind of knowing what to expect and what you're going to be feeling. That might be the biggest advantage. And when you're playing, you still have to obviously follow the process and play your best golf.
There might be moments here and there that might help you if you've had that experience before. But it would have to be certain situations, certain shots. It's hard to say in general what it would help with.
Q. On a more lighthearted note, the guy on 11, for somebody who got plunked on the head, he took it like a champ. Did you chat with him a little bit?
JON RAHM: I did. I'm very impressed, I must say. I'm very impressed.
After I hit it and we saw the ball bounce out, which I haven't seen a ball ricochet like that in a while. I mean, if it was a driver, you would expect it, but for a 6-iron, I mean, that thing came in sideways quick.
I told Adam, well, get the Sharpie ready because I'm going to have to give him something, like a signed glove.
His response was, "That may not be enough."
I'm like, I don't know what else you want me to give him, right. We were kind of sorting through things between golf clubs and golf balls. I don't think a glove and a tee is going to cut it. He took it great. I told him, if he was European and grew up playing soccer, football, and he just aimed a little bit better, maybe just get it closer to the hole, but besides that he definitely -- it's a weird moment. Sometimes when that happens and they're not hurt, they are so excited because they know we are going to go there and just have a five-minute conversation, and yeah, he took it great and he was a great sport about it.
Q. On a more serious note, Matt Fitzpatrick was in here yesterday and he said that being in contention at a major starts to feel real to him on the second nine on Saturday, and I noticed today that's when you kicked it into gear. Did you feel a little more juice all of a sudden on the back nine and did things feel a little bit more real?
JON RAHM: Yeah, especially I started making birdies and getting closer. That birdie on 14, with an eagle, I would have gotten closer quicker.
But when I made the putt on 15 I had the Green Mile to go, knowing that if I finish at even par I'm going to be in good position going into tomorrow.
Maybe not the whole back nine because before the birdie on 10, I was, what, 4-under. So at that point I was still four back. There's a lot of golf to play. Not really thinking about it. Maybe not the whole back nine but the last four holes for sure.
Q. Did it feel good?
JON RAHM: Yeah, it feels great. You get a little bit of a taste of what tomorrow may be like, obviously tomorrow being a little more intensified. It was a lot of fun to be there again and it was a lot of fun to play those holes great and finish strong.
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