AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jon Rahm likely won’t get as much practice time as he hoped this week at Augusta National.
Not that he seemed concerned.
The Masters rookie spent only an hour in the short-game area Monday before he was pulled off the course because of severe weather.
“I had the hour of my life,” he said.
With the forecast calling for more storms Wednesday, Rahm won’t have much experience before his opening tee shot. He took only one prior trip to Augusta, after the WGC-Mexico Championship. He spent two days with his caddie, Adam Hayes, and received tips from a local looper that came highly recommended. He also has spent time watching videos about the course.
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“I had somewhat of an idea of the strategy I was going to have to use on the golf course,” he said. “I can’t be specific right now. But I’ll try to learn as fast as possible.”
Rahm said he wasn’t tempted to withdraw from last week’s Houston Open to spend more time at Augusta.
“I didn’t want to be at home practicing, over-thinking it, just being anxious to be here,” he said. “I know myself. I probably would have tried to come early and spend too much time here. The anticipation would have built up so much higher in my head that I wouldn’t have been able to handle the first day.”
Instead, Rahm stayed in the Houston field, even after a marathon week at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. On Sunday, he closed with 67 to tie for 10th.
“I wanted to keep playing,” he said, “and just keep the good momentum going.”
