THE MODERATOR: Jon Rahm joins us now at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Welcome to your fourth Ryder Cup.
Let's go ahead and get started with questions.
Q. What's one part of this week that you love that maybe as a kid you wouldn't have expected to love or that you didn't think about, something unexpected about this week that you always look forward to?
JON RAHM: You kind of got me a little bit on that one. I definitely didn't know what to expect on my first Ryder Cup. Obviously after that first one, you know. It's more how fun the team aspect is, right. Getting to see all the different personalities and how much we truly laugh and enjoy the locker room moments this week.
It's not something that I thought of as a kid. When you're thinking as a kid, you're thinking, oh, you know, Poulter's putt at Medinah or G-Mac's putt on 16 at Celtic Manor, all these great moments. All I thought about was the golf aspect of it. Never thought of what happened in the locker room, right.
That first Ryder Cup was quite interesting to see all the personalities come in that I don't ordinarily see day-to-day.
Q. A lot of guys mentioned how the Ryder Cup feels like the first time they maybe really belong at the highest level among their peers. Your first Ryder Cup, did you feel like you belonged at that point?
JON RAHM: Yes and no. There's definitely a hierarchy because I had only been a pro for, I think, not even two years at that point. Actually just over two years.
I was high in the World Rankings, yes, and I had been playing great golf. But the second I got in that locker room, it was very, very, very apparent to me that I was way lower down when it came to Ryder Cup just because of how comfortable some players were and how different the dynamic of the week is.
Did I belong? Yes. But the presence, like nowadays, they'll say the aura of some players. The second you walked in the locker room in Paris, Sergio and Poulter were very big. Just the heaviness of their presence was apparent right away. Same with Rory, same with many others, right.
As a very young rookie, the intimidation did happen right away. It was very different to what I expected, which was in a weird sense very, very humbling going into future Ryder Cups.
Q. Is it obvious who the Sergio and Poulter are in the European team room now?
JON RAHM: Yeah, especially at that moment. I think Sergio that week became the highest point earner in European Team history, as well. And there's more players, like the Lee Westwoods and the people that have been there for nearly 10 Ryder Cups. I mean, Lee has done 11 -- yeah, that was his 10th. There's a presence. There's so much that they had experienced and already and been together for the better part of 20 years. When you're the new kid coming in, there's a lot you have to learn.
Q. How would you describe the development of your relationship with Tyrrell over the last three Ryder Cups, especially in comparison to the last two years?
JON RAHM: So I don't think Tyrrell and I said a word to each other in Paris till Sunday night. We both together might have said ten words all week. We were both extremely quiet.
And obviously in Whistling Straits, that changed a little bit, right. We got paired together. We have similar interests. We both at the time were playing double duty; I think we are were the only two on the team that had ever played. We had some shared interests in that sense and played golf with the same intensity, so that's when we got put together for the first time and had a great time on the golf course. Did really well with that great birdie from Tyrrell on 18 to tie the match. So I think that's when it all started.
And then going into Rome that week is when I think our friendship really started, sharing those foursome matches with him, and then obviously the last two years. I mean, he's a heck of a guy. I think he gets widely misunderstood on the golf course. He is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet off the golf course who is not afraid to make fun of himself.
Obviously he competes the way he does, and I fully understand the way that he competes because our thought process is very much similar. But the more I get to know him, the more of a better person he truly is. You see that in many different ways than just being around the boys. It's the way that he treats the people around him, the way he treats his wife. He's a great human being.
Q. And also, we got his version of the postseason celebration. Can we get yours?
JON RAHM: The whole version?
Q. If you don't mind.
JON RAHM: How much did he say? Did he say the whole story on Wentworth, like the entire thing, what happened that night, everything? Oh. Do you need my version of him or my version of mine?
Q. Your version of yourself.
JON RAHM: I don't drink a lot, but luckily I have a bigger tank to put it in (laughter).
The main thing is obviously he had just found out he was qualified for the Ryder Cup, which being in LIV is extremely difficult. What he did is outstanding. I understand why he was -- the pride he felt, why he wanted to celebrate. And plus being the end of the season for us.
But the problem was the amount of things we mixed. I'm not going to get into amounts. I'm sure he did. But between wine, gin and tonic, Amaretto sours, one margarita for some reason, and then this strawberry lemonade vodka thing that we don't know what it was. The bartender was very creative. That was just a little bit too much, yeah.
None of us were feeling good on Monday, but he was definitely feeling the worst.
Q. How have you seen Rory's role evolve across the different Ryder Cups?
JON RAHM: So I think in Paris, he's definitely one of those names, right, Rory McIlroy, one of the greatest players we have in the world. And there's still that level of presence from the other guys, right. But I think as the Ryder Cups go on, especially in Rome, I think in Rome it shifted.
Whistling, unfortunately, it wasn't the week for him. He wasn't playing his best golf, and when you're playing bad, it's very hard to still be there that way.
But when it comes to Rome, he was him. He was the biggest name we have in Europe. He's the better player we have in Europe and he's definitely the biggest presence. That's his role now, right.
He's gone from obviously being an incredibly good player to a great Ryder Cup player to now being, I would say, the cornerstone that Team Europe needs. It's special to have him around. He's a heck of a superstar. My respect for his game only grows the more time I spend with him.
Q. You're an emotional player. How much will this week be about controlling those emotions on the course, and is there a way to prepare for that other than VR goggles and all those things?
JON RAHM: I don't think that we're creative enough in those VR goggles to what we're going to hear this week, so far what we've heard in practice rounds.
The good thing about this week is New York fans are so passionate, and luckily for me, that's something I can relate to. In both ways, it's really, really fun. But they have ability to be incredibly creative, which we can all appreciate, right. We have all been in a home game trying to say some things about the away team, right, but some people come up with some things that I would never in a million years come up with, and it's a lot of fun to be a part of.
They understand sports, and in a weird sense, from what I've experienced in New York, when you're playing good and you're performing well, they also respect that, right.
It's a joy to play in front of them, and no matter what, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be special. You can mentally get ready for it if you've been a part of an away Ryder Cup. If not, you're going to find out on the first tee how you react.
Q. I'm curious, strategy off the tee this week. I know a couple American players have been taking driver and going straight at the green. Is that in the game plan at all for you personally, or has that been discussed about what to do off the first tee depending on the condition?
JON RAHM: Depends on the wind. Downwind -- maybe not in the morning, but if it gets straight downwind, it can get fairly close. The rough isn't so high that you can -- makes you think about having to hit the fairway, right. So you can afford to miss the fairway, be so close to the green and have a good chance of hitting it close. If it's into the wind, it's a driver regardless, and downwind, it will most likely being a driver.
Yeah, I don't think I've thought of a different club to be fair. I don't know if I can get to the green, though. It's -- I would need a little bit of firmness on the fairways for me to maybe reach. I don't think that I have the carry that maybe Bryson or Cam Young or Rory may have.
Q. Talking about the fans getting creative with the heckling, I saw it reported that someone shouted something about the weight loss drug Ozempic to you the other day?
JON RAHM: Yeah, first shot in the practice rounds, yeah. I don't know exactly what he said, but I think what he said was -- what did he say? He either said, "Hey, Rahm, where is the Ozempic?" Or "When's Ozempic?" Something "Ozempic." I just don't know what word exactly. It was funny.
Q. The heckling in general, do you think it's in the right side of good taste; there's no issue with it?
JON RAHM: So far, the humor that's been there, it's really funny. I would imagine tomorrow things might turn a little bit but there's always funny ones, and not only towards me, towards everybody.
I'm not going to say what they said, but yesterday on 17, me and Shane Lowry had a good laugh at something someone said in the crowd. Again, people can be really creative nowadays.
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