MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2026

Jon Rahm

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're pleased to be joined in the interview room today by our 2023 champion Jon Rahm. Jon, welcome back to the Masters for the 10th time.

You've had four top 10s here, you've made 9 out of 9 cuts, in addition to your 2023 win. You've been in top form so far this year. Tell me about your preparation leading into your good form coming into this week.

JON RAHM: That could be a very, very long answer.

THE MODERATOR: I know you did a lot over the winter.

JON RAHM: Yeah, having the time off was really nice. Over the three months, I could definitely think about what I thought I could improve on, what my swing felt like throughout the year and what needed to change, and still working on it.

I think I got into some bad habits for a couple of years that I was able to maneuver around, even around the time when I won here in '23 that I'm still trying to work out of. In those three months I did a lot of good work, and I think that set the base for how I've played this year.

Q. Could you describe the difficulty of the second shot into the 3rd green and just kind of the importance of that hole and the rhythm of the round. You obviously birdied it on Sunday when you won here in 2023.

JON RAHM: Well, it all depends on the wind, the pin location, and how firm the greens are. If the greens aren't very firm, which that hasn't been the case the last three, four years when they redid that green, it's been firm every year, you can be quite aggressive. You can hit it up there and be confident that with any wedge shot you can stop it on the green.

Now you have pins like front right, front middle, front left, where there's a gap where if you're in between, you're not far enough to create some spin or you're not close enough to be comfortable bumping it on the green, where you're going to have to be very, very passive. So it becomes a very, very difficult shot.

Any back pin, my recommendation, hit it way up there and then use the contours of the green to get it close. But those short ones, you'll see a lot of different options. If you have the length, you can go right at it at the green and try to hit it on the upslope, so you have the option of bumping it or hitting a high soft shot. If not to the right pin, what I've done in the past is almost hit it to the scoreboard, as far left as possible, so even if you leave yourself 60 yards, you have a little bit of extra room and up the hill to stop it.

But each one plays it however they feel like. If you're a good enough wedge player and you have confidence in your wedge game, you can layup and leave yourself a 110 to 130 shot, which I don't think is the easiest with the ever-swirling winds of Augusta National, but I have done it to the short left pin a couple times in the past just because I didn't think I could get it close enough to the green to be comfortable.

It's a hole that everybody assumes we birdie, yet it still plays over par because of how intricate it is.

Q. There are certain shots you're aware the degree of difficulty is obvious, talking about 3, the approach at 11, trying to judge the wind at 12. Do you feel like there's certain approach shots where the degree of difficulty may be underrated, we don't talk about it enough?

JON RAHM: I could make that argument for every single shot on this golf course. Honestly, I don't think the wedge shot on 13 and 15 if you layup are ever talked about enough. You're most likely going to be on quite a bit of downslope and into the green, into a green that is not always the easiest, especially 15. Like those shots to the front pins.

Even the back middle one, even watching the Women's Am Tour, it's not the easiest shot. You have the leaders coming in, and hitting the green becomes a difficult task. And even hitting it close to the pin, it's very, very difficult to hit the pin towards the back of the green.

Those are two shots I always tell people, especially 15 with the water being more of a threat, 13 you can have a backstop to most of the pins, but it's -- for 60, 70, 80 yards, it's a lot more difficult than anybody would realize. Again, I can make that case for a lot of shots.

I think a lot of people have this idea that Augusta National is wide, and then you come here for the first time and you start seeing where, if you really, truly have to be aggressive on some shots, how narrow it gets, how narrow really 1, 2, 5 can get. 7 is way narrower than people think. Even 8, once you get towards the bunker, the end of the bunker becomes narrower, and even though they've made it wider, it's no picnic.

Q. You mentioned you got into some bad habits these past couple years. I'm wondering what were they and how did they limit you?

JON RAHM: Just a certain part of the takeaway that I wasn't comfortable with, and for a fader of the golf ball, when the ball starts left, going further left is a really bad thing. So a lot of it was trying to eliminate that as much as possible.

Q. I'm curious, you won here obviously in 2023. What part of your game is better than it was in 2023, and what part is maybe not as solid?

JON RAHM: It's tricky because with the weather we had, you kind of -- you're kind of trying to survive. The golf course played so different to how it usually plays with how much rain and wind and cold we had. The greens were rather soft compared to the last few editions.

It was a bit of survival most of the week. If you go back, besides the high draws, I hit -- it was a very low tee, low fade, trying to keep it in play most of the time just because the water, the water we could have on the club face could affect the ball flight a little too much than I was comfortable with.

If I had to say what was really good in 2023 that is probably getting towards that level again hopefully is my iron game. I hit my irons really well.

The one thing that sticks out from that week was short game and putting inside 10 feet. Even though I had a three-putt -- two three-putts and a four-putt that tournament, inside 10 feet it was very, very good. Which if you can avoid making bogeys obviously, it's a massive thing around here, and anywhere.

Q. Obviously you withdrew your appeal on the fines on the DP World Tour. Can I ask why you did that? How do you feel the current position sits with your involvement in the Ryder Cup?

JON RAHM: Like I said the last few interviews, we keep talking about the DP World Tour and trying to figure out a solution that works best. I didn't think that going the legal route and going to court was good for anybody. So I have faith in us and the DP World Tour we're going to find a good solution for both of us.

Q. You feel confident that you'll play at Adare Manor?

JON RAHM: Yes.

Q. You've attended now a couple of these Masters Champions Dinners. I'm wondering how the experience is maybe different or surprising in ways that -- different than you expected, I guess?

JON RAHM: I've attended two. One was my own, and then the other one would have been Scottie's, very different experiences. Being your own, quite nerve-racking having to sit next to Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Ridley, and looking to your left and your right seeing the icons of this game. Looking to my left and seeing Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus and a couple of spots down is Tiger and Mark O'Meara. You look straight ahead, and there's Gary Player and Nick Faldo. So very daunting, very daunting.

Very worried about having to give a speech, I'm not going to lie, very emotional moment. And the fact that it was, again, on April 9th, which would have been Seve's birthday when we had the dinner made it a little bit more emotional.

Still probably one of the coolest experiences of my life because given to the date that it was and Mr. Crenshaw alluding to it, all of those greats had spent time with Seve, starting with Ollie telling stories about Ryder Cups and previous matches with him.

For somebody that's researched as much as possible, those are stories I've never heard and maybe they've never told anybody. It was quite unique to see a full room of grown men, in essence, acting like kids again because of the love they have for this game and the stories of Seve. So for me, that's about as special as a dinner can get.

Second one being Scottie's, sitting next to Sergio and Jose, almost like a dream come true. Obviously we're only missing Seve being able to sit beside those two. In between them was special and very fun in a different way. A lot of it was pressure in a lot of ways, but it's a very fun and unique experience that it's still hard to wrap my head around that I'm going to be able to do it for the rest of my life. So it's unique.

Q. The 13th tee is so secluded from the patrons, the cameras, and the overall tournament buzz. For those who will never experience it, can you take us to that stretch of the property with what you see, what you feel when you're there?

JON RAHM: It is very different to play such a high-quality event, such a high-level event. Once you leave the 12th tee, you're playing essentially -- the green on 12 and the tee shot on 13 with virtually nobody there. The closest people are 160 yards away from the green and probably 200 yards away from the tee.

It is in a weird sense odd because how quiet it is. If you were to make a putt on 12, you hear a two-second delay cheer from the grandstands at 12, but sometimes we don't know if it's somebody doing something on 11, a scoreboard changing, or your shot.

13, it seems like no one really knows what's going on over back there. It's a very nice moment of quiet and peace within the madness that it can be at a tournament this big on a Sunday afternoon. It's a nice welcome change of pace in that sense.

Obviously 12 is no picnic, so having a little bit of quiet is kind of nice, same with the tee shot on 13.

Q. There was some considerable excitement about Tiger possibly returning here this year. Then we realized he has perhaps more important challenges to be dealing with. The how would you describe the mood among your community and how your fellow pros feel about the challenges Tiger is facing?

JON RAHM: There's a lot of players in this field that were very close to him, and I haven't had the time to talk to them. Quite frankly, I don't know if this will be the week to do so. They have enough going on this week with the Masters and a friend needing some help that I don't know if it's the right time.

So I haven't had any conversations with anyone about it. All I can hope is that he gets the help that he can get and he can come back in a better position after that. I mean, he is arguably the king of comebacks. If there's somebody that has the mental strength to come back from an issue like that, it will be him. Confident that he has enough people in Florida, enough golfers for sure supporting him on that as well.

Q. Is it your understanding that you are unable to play a DP World Tour event right now until this situation is resolved?

JON RAHM: I truly don't know. I'm not planning to play until September. So that's a bit of a positive. If I were unable right now, it doesn't matter since I'm not planning to tee it up until after August like I have done in my career.

I do intend to continue to support the DP World Tour. I've been very thankful to be a member. I've been very thankful to support the Tour and play some wonderful events. The Irish Open has been very good to me, and I would love to make a return. Wentworth has been fantastic every single year, the Spanish Open, maybe even the Dunhill. We have some events like the French Open and the Omega. Those are events that I'd love to have the chance to play.

Q. Are you willing perhaps to broach the idea of some sort of compromise?

JON RAHM: I think I already have. We've already told them many times. I just don't know, so I think this is not the week to be talking about this, this being the first major of the year and how important this is for the game of golf in general and for all of us.

We keep talking to them, and we keep trying to negotiate. I have given in quite a bit in a few things, which I think I made -- I talked about on my last press conference.

We're going to work it out. It's going to work out. As of now, the DP World Tour is doing what they need to do and following the channels they need to follow, but I'm confident this will be sorted out before I tee it up in September.

Q. Of all the challenges that Augusta National poses as a golf course, where would you rate the elevation changes for people who have just come into golf, and how difficult is that even for guys like you, the many elevation changes on this golf course?

JON RAHM: I think more than the elevation changes is the lies that you end up having because of those changes. Like if you hit a good tee shot on 2 and you're able to go left of that bunker, you have a very downhill lie with the ball above your feet, a lot of times with wind off the left on that hole. So that's not an easy shot.

What I was alluding to earlier on 13 and 15, you're hitting a 50-, 60-, 70-, 80-yard wedge shot on a lie that you don't ever practice because you don't really have those ever in par-5s, and if you do sometimes, you try to avoid them. There's some holes we need to hit it close enough, and there's no way to avoid it on 15, for example. So it's getting comfortable with that.

Second shot on 13 as well, even the second shot on 18. Very few holes are that uphill. More than getting used to playing X amount of yards up or down, it's the position you're in on the fairway trying to hit those shots that I think can be more of a challenge.

Q. With it being about three weeks since you last played, I'm wondering if you had preferred to have an event closer to the Masters and what you've been doing in the time to prep for this week?

JON RAHM: I'm more of a player that likes to have a little bit of time off before a major. I don't usually like to play the week before, at least in my career. If I have to, I will. It's not a problem. If given the choice, I'd rather have the prior week off. Happy to have two weeks off in this time and kind of reassure that what I've been working on is the right things.

Q. You talked about the 12 and 15 -- or 12 and 13, 15. At Amen Corner, you're under-par career-wise here.

JON RAHM: I am?

Q. Yeah.

JON RAHM: Surprising. That's good. I didn't know.

Q. Could you talk about what from an optimum standpoint your approach is to 11, 12, and 13, in regards to wind, what clubs you like to hit, and what hole locations you like in those holes?

JON RAHM: Again, that could be a very long answer.

Q. We've got a lot of time.

JON RAHM: I don't know if I have that much time. I'll start with 12. 12 is the easiest one.

Number one, be on land. Number two, hopefully it's on the green. If not, let's try to make it up-and-down.

I think early on in my first years in the Masters, I tried to be more aggressive than I needed to. Now it's hit the middle of the green, two-putt, move on. It's pretty simple. I'm pretty confident when I say I'm over-par on that hole. I think I'm over-par on 12.

But on 11, I've played good in the past. You get to the tee, it's you hit driver as hard as you possibly can. I think we all have a very similar strategy. We all aim basically at the right edge of the back bunker, try to hit on that middle third of the green on the wider side. If you happen to pull a little bit, you have plenty of room to hopefully miss it on the green. Then if you miss right, you can always try to get up-and-down and at worst make a 5.

I don't think I've ever gone flag hunting to any pin that is on the left side unless it was a year when it was downwind and you find yourself with a short iron where you can actually be aggressive. Most of the time, it's 6-, 5-, 4-iron, and you're just hoping to hit the green.

Then on 13, being a par-5, obviously you want to start off with a good tee shot. Obviously a lot more challenging now with the distance to give yourself the right shot into the green. What a lot of people don't know with this added number is even if you hit a draw down the left, if you don't hit it far enough, those tree branches are still in your way. So you can't really go for it as you hit a big draw into not the widest green.

If you're drawing it too much right to left, if you land it in the middle, you can still miss the green left, and it just becomes a tricky shot. 13, being a par-5, is try to be aggressive off the tee. If not, you can still leave yourself a wedge shot to try and make a birdie.

I think on 11 and 12, we're all trying to eliminate big numbers. Birdies can happen, not very often, but just trying to play a conservative line with an aggressive swing.

Q. Back to that Champions Dinner, Seve stories, I know there's a lot that you probably can't share, but is there one good one that you heard that you can share with us?

JON RAHM: I mean, I think I could share all of them. It's just that they're elaborate and I'm not going to do it justice because, when people live those -- I think the funniest thing I could say is Bernhard Langer was telling a story about -- I think it was him and Monty playing foursomes in the Ryder Cup at Valderrama, and they went to 18. I think they were 1-down or all square.

I think it was Monty. If it wasn't Monty, I'm sorry. Whoever Bernard was playing with missed it right on the trees. Whoever knows at Valderrama those trees are no joke, and back then the rough was four or five inches, which adds onto it, and Bernhard was trying to pitch it out.

Here comes Seve, drifts in there, gets off and tells him, Bernhard, have you considered hitting a 2-iron over the trees and you slice it 50 yards onto the green? Only thing Seve could think about. Bernhard kind of waves him off, chips out, hit it on the green, make for par. Americans three-putt.

Then Bernhard said, I don't know who we were playing against, but that was great. Right directly in front of him was Tiger and Mark O'Meara, and both of them are going that was against us. Maybe slightly different language than what was used there.

The fact that it was right in front of Tiger Woods and he told the whole story and he said, I forgot who I was playing against, and he was right there, it was probably one of the best moments I've ever witnessed golf-wise. It was incredible. To be live and witness that, it has nothing to do with the story, but the fact it was them sitting in front. Which who forgets playing Tiger and beating him on 18 because they three-putted? I mean, come on, I know he's played a lot of golf, but that doesn't seem like something you would forget.

Q. You talk about the difficulty that's underrated of those third shots into the par-5s on the back. Given that, were you still shocked about what happened to Rory last year on 13, or can you even sort of understand how maybe that might have happened?

JON RAHM: Can I understand? 100 percent, we can all understand. Out of all shots, because he laid up down the left side on 13, which is the flattest side to that pin, it is surprising that with how well he was playing, he would miss it right of the pin, having that slope left of it. He could have hit it 20 feet left and most likely end up with 10 feet for birdie.

He was dealing with other things. I hope to be in a position one day to go down the 13th at any golf course with a chance to win the Grand Slam, and knowing how well he's played here in the past and hasn't gotten it done.

So I think it's a reflection of the magnitude of the moment than the shot itself. Again, is it surprising entirely? No. But it's such a big moment that it can make you make mistakes like that.