“Ryder Cup is the biggest marketing tool” – Jon Rahm opens up on how his whole family took up golf after attending the 1997 Ryder Cup in Spain
The 2023 Ryder Cup is just around the corner and both teams are raring to go up against one another. The European Ryder Cup team members recently played at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship and interestingly all of them made the cut at the event.
Recently, 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm, who auto-qualified for the Ryder Cup, spoke about the biennial tournament in his interview with Golf Week. He was asked how the Ryder Cup has affected his career after he attended the tournament with family in Spain in 1997.
Speaking about the tournament, Rahm said that the biennial event is one of the biggest marketing tools in golf as it's the only time in the year when some of the best golfers in the world play together.
Speaking about the game, Rahm said:
"I think the Ryder Cup is also the biggest marketing tool that golf has. It is the biggest event that we have, by far. It is the one time that some of the best players in the world are not playing for themselves and instead come together to create what, on paper, would otherwise be an exhibition."
"Both teams always fight to the very end because of how much it matters to all of us. It is such a unique competition. Even if your team loses, it is still extremely fun and special to have been a part of it. It is the closest that us golfers will ever feel to what other sportsmen and women experience when playing in sold-out stadiums," he added.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will start on September 29 and run through the weekend to have its finale on Sunday, October 1, in Rome Italy.
Jon Rahm's record in Ryder Cup
Rahm made his Ryder Cup debut in 2018 and will make his third appearance at the tournament in 2023.
The Spanish golfer has a Ryder Cup record of 4-3-1 and secured a spot in the team in 2023 because of his incredible performance throughout this season.
Here are the records of Jon Rahm at the Ryder Cup:
- Singles: 1 win and 1 loss from 2 matches.
- Fourball: 1 win and 3 losses from 4 matches.
- Foursomes: 2 wins from 2 matches
The former World No.1 golfer was part of the winning team in 2018 but had a disappointing experience in 2021 when the American team registered a victory at Whistling Straight.
In his last two outings, Jon Rahm played in eight tournaments, winning four and losing the other three.
At the 2023 tournament, he qualified based on his amazing performance on the PGA Tour. After closing the 2022 season with a victory at the Acciona Open de Espana, he carried out an impressive season in 2023 when he won four events including the Masters.
Jon Rahm clinched the trophy of the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and then won The American Express before clinching the trophy of The Genesis Invitational.