Pride Of A Nation

Jon Rahms blistering start as a professional has broughtwith it comparisons to Spains most famous golfing son,but is it fair to label him the next Seve?

- Robin Barwick

Jose Maria Olazabal had to overcome the problem and it nearly drove Sergio Garcia mad. Now it is Jon Rahm’s turn to cope with the meteoric expectations attached to being known as ‘the next Seve’. Every time Rahm recovers brilliantly from a wild drive (thankfully Rahm is less afflicted by wild drives than was Ballesteros), every time he wins, every time he loses his temper – that does happen a bit – he gets compared to Seve Ballesteros. It’s the curse of being a Spanish golfer of extremely rare ability, and with a world ranking of fifth at the time of writing there is no question that Rahm, at still only 23, is a remarkable talent.

“Who would ever compare me to Seve?” Rahm protests, understandably, in an exclusive interview with Golf Monthly. “I am never going to be Seve. He was unique, so special, and what he did for golf in Spain was unbelievable. He is an idol of mine and it is beautiful in a way for people to compare me to Seve and I try to embrace it and take it as a positive. It is amazing that some people have such high hopes for me, but I am not going to be Seve. I am Jon Rahm. I would be extremely happy if I could influence one kid to take up golf because of my career, whereas Seve influenced thousands. I always say to people that if I can achieve a quarter of a quarter of what Seve achieved in the game then I would declare my life a success.”