LIV GOLF MEXICO CITY

April 18, 2026

Jon Rahm

Tom McKibbin

Club de Golf Chapultepec

Legion XIII

TV Quick Quotes

Q. Tom, I'll start with you. I know you had a rough night but you held it up with that great ball-striking. What's it like competing at the highest level alongside one of your heroes and the legend that he is?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, it was really cool to go out there and play in the last group with Jon, something I haven't experienced yet, and to do that today was really cool. Yeah, really helped me with how I played, given how I was feeling this morning. Yeah, just had a good day out there.

Q. Where do you get the discipline at this young age to stick to your game plan no matter what's going on around you and what the other guys are playing with or doing?

TOM McKIBBIN: I don't know. I guess I feel like I've been playing this game for a while, and I know I don't have some of the shots that those two have, especially on those dogleg holes, so I just sort of got to play to my strengths and sort of plot it the way I can. There's some holes that I can take advantage of, and then there's others that I can't, so I've just got to stick to that.

Q. Jon, overall satisfaction with today's round?

JON RAHM: I feel like no matter what, I'm always going to feel like I wanted more. Played really good golf. Just that front nine on the stretch from 5 through 9 just got a few maybe not-so-great swings, a few unlucky moments with wind gusts and unlucky bounces.

That second shot on 5, I still don't understand what happened. With the wind off the left and trying to hit a cut and that ball hooked 25 yards left, which is hard to do in altitude in perfect conditions. To hit a ball out of bounds with a pitching wedge is not something that happens every day, so had to reset from that, and even then, after the luck on 7, the second shot ending up over there by the TV tower, it's just a few moments you have to get over.

Did a good job of staying patient and knowing that eventually things were going to happen. Obviously the back nine showed it.

Q. You seem to be treating yourself nicer, being your own best friend out there. Is that intentional?

JON RAHM: I don't know, that may be one of those things you guys see. I definitely wasn't happy a few holes out there. But I think it's just where we are. It's a little bit easier than other weeks to reset and understand that really, really how things are going to happen. After a few too many in a row it's easy to get frustrated, but so far this week I've done a good job of bouncing back and staying on track.

Q. Quickly, a little praise for this young man?

JON RAHM: Yeah, I think he was selling himself short, some things that he can't do. He can do pretty much everything any of us can do. He's a fantastic ball striker and fantastic golfer. I think he would tell you, he shot higher than he probably should have shot because of how good he played.

An unfortunate lie there on 12 on the left where it's nice lush thick grass, and he ended up on the only dry patch, making that shot a lot more difficult. After that, he kept hitting good shots and good putts. Again, it's just what can happen in golf. But he's definitely playing fantastic.