Jon Rahm walks down the fairway with a towel wrapped around his neck to combat the heat at TPC Southwind. | Photo by Jason Allen/ISI Photos/Getty Images
Jon Rahm spoke with the media ahead of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, the course where he won this tournament in 2020.
Jon Rahm is back at Olympia Fields, the site of the 2003 U.S. Open and this week’s BMW Championship.
Three years ago, Olympia Fields hosted the 2020 BMW Championship, which Rahm won in thrilling fashion. He sunk a 66-foot birdie putt to defeat Dustin Johnson in a playoff.
Alas, Rahm is not concerned about reminiscing on the past. Instead, he is focused on winning the FedEx Cup.
“The point of coming to the Playoffs is to give yourself the best chance to get to East Lake on the number one spot,” Rahm noted. “I’ve done a pretty good job so far. Hopefully, this week I can have a good performance like I did last time, earn it, clinch it, and give myself the best shot for the win. It’s been a great year so far, so hopefully, I can end it off the way I started it.”
The top-ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings starts their opening round at the Tour Championship at 10-under par. It is a handicap-based format, as a player’s ranking dictates where they begin the tournament relative to par. The 30th-ranked golfer starts at even.
But just getting to East Lake in Atlanta for the Tour Championship is so difficult in and of itself, a point Rahm highlighted Tuesday.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Jon Rahm celebrates his 66-foot putt to defeat Dustin Johnson in a sudden-death playoff on the 18th hole of the final round of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Golf Club on August 30, 2020.
“It is probably more difficult, challenging, and competitive than what you can probably see or imagine in all these players’ heads just because it truly is,” Rahm said.
“It’s an elite number of players that can call themselves PGA Tour players, and the elite of that elite will be making it to the [BMW Championship], and a more selective group to the [Tour Championship], and even more selective to the Ryder Cup.”
“Even within the greats, there are some little divisions of great players. It’s extremely competitive.”
Only the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualified for the BMW Championship, the second round of the playoffs.
After this week, only the top 30 head to Atlanta for the season-ending Tour Championship. A single birdie or bogey on Sunday can determine a player’s fate.
“I’m pretty sure you can go down the stats of those ranked 51st to 55th in the FedExCup and consider they’ve had a pretty darned good year,” Rahm added. “They’re incredible golfers, yet they can’t make it to the end of the Playoffs.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
