Jon Rahm willing to 'channel his inner Seve' and play leading role for Europe at Ryder Cup
- Planet Sport writer
- 24 July 2023
The Spaniard says he's not a natural leader but will take inspiration from countryman Seve Ballesteros and rise to the occasion.
Spain's Jon Rahm is ready to "channel his inner Seve" to help Europe's Ryder Cup team regain the trophy this autumn.
The world number three will arrive in Rome as one of the senior players in a side which has lost a vast amount of experience from two years ago when they were thrashed 19-9 at Whistling Straits.
And while he accepts he cannot be the inspirational heartbeat of the team in the way his great compatriot Seve Ballesteros was - both in life and even after his death from a brain tumour in 2011 - Rahm knows he will be expected to lead from the front as a two-time major winner.
"It's not like I have five or six (appearances) like some others did, but it's two," said the Masters champion.
"If they want me to be a role model on the team or a leader, I will be. I'm not the most vocal. I'm quite introverted myself, but I'll do what I can.
"I'll try to channel my inner Seve and do what I can do."
Defections to the LIV Golf series and subsequent suspensions and resignations from the DP World Tour mean the quartet of Sergio Garcia - the Ryder Cup's record points scorer - Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey who all played two years ago will not be eligible.
The form of some of those players would have made it debatable whether they would have earned a place even if they were available, but it leaves captain Luke Donald relying heavily on the experience of Rory McIlroy, who will be making his seventh appearance, Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton.
Rahm famously beat Tiger Woods in his singles match in Paris in 2018, having lost fourballs matches playing with Poulter and Justin Rose, but two years ago was far and away Europe's best player.
He won three-and-a-half points out of five matches, successfully partnering with Garcia for three of those points.
"I'm not going to lie. I love the Ryder Cup," he added.
"I know we're going to have a lot of new faces on the team and everybody wants to rectify what happened two years ago."
World number five Viktor Hovland and number nine Matt Fitzpatrick are likely to retain their spots from last time out, but there are a host of players pushing for their European debuts.
Scotland's Bob Macintyre, denied victory at the Scottish Open two weeks ago by a brilliant McIlroy finish, Austria's Sepp Straka, who finished joint second at the Open this weekend, Germany's Yannick Paul, Pole Adrian Meronk, Frenchman Victor Perez and Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard are all looking to secure a place.
"It's been a good year for the Europeans, but what you do during the year doesn't really matter when you go to the Ryder Cup. It's 18-hole matches. It's about showing up that day," said Rahm.
"That's why I think Europe has done a really good job in the past. We always hear about the accolades the American team always has, and they still do, and on paper they should be better, but it's all about what you do against the man in front of you that day.
"It's still very positive that you have so many of us playing good golf and up there on the leaderboards.
"With Luke's guidance, we're going to have a really strong team, and I'm looking forward to it, and we should have a really good chance of getting that cup back and defending home turf."
