{"id":165077,"date":"2025-09-28T02:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/165077\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T02:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:39:08","slug":"jon-rahm-marries-magic-and-europes-secret-ingredient-to-light-up-ryder-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/165077\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Rahm marries magic and Europe\u2019s secret ingredient to light up Ryder Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>A flick of a raised thumb from Xander Schauffele, the American knew the fiendishly difficult challenge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/jon-rahm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jon Rahm<\/a> had just met with courage and a dash of creativity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe gusta la playa,\u201d boomed one American fan, with the fiery Spaniard slumping down into the sand. It was a horrible spot, with the ball above his feet, sitting snugly in the rough with a devilish left to right slope downhill to the pin.<\/p>\n<p>But the famed reputation of \u2018Spanish hands,\u2019 especially Europe\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/ryder-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ryder Cup<\/a> legend and one of Rahm\u2019s heroes, Seve Ballesteros, left its mark at Bethpage Black. A chopping action lifted the ball up neatly, and the precise point at which it pitched earned the respect, even in this cauldron of golfing battle, of Schauffele with that gesture.<\/p>\n<p>The two-time major champion was circling back towards Rahm for his own chipping test, but then the ball trickled towards the hole and just kept on rolling before dropping in the cup. A finger to the sky, the burly Basque did not know at the time, but Schauffele\u2019s narrow miss a moment later confirmed the advantage for Rahm and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/tyrrell-hatton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyrrell Hatton<\/a> en route to a 3&amp;2 victory, a third victory from three this week to secure a 8.5-3.5 lead after three sessions, not to mention a 6-0-0 record in foursomes, more on that later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only benefit to the whole situation is that they were off the green, as well,\u201d Rahm selflessly said afterwards. \u201cSo I could afford to be aggressive and hopefully leave him a decent putt. I was honestly just trying to putt it on the green, right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully hit it somewhere online, somewhere with the right distance, and it came out absolutely perfect. It&#8217;s a bit of luck involved but at least the ball was lying well and got really decent contact on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rahm\u2019s 6-0-0 in foursomes is even more remarkable than it sounds. Per renowned <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JustinRayGolf\/status\/1971619402564227316\">golf statistician Justin Ray<\/a>, he is now one of just two players from 80 in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/ryder-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ryder Cup<\/a> history who have played five or more matches in foursomes and remained unbeaten and untied. The other? Tommy Fleetwood.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Team-Europes-Jon-Rahm-celebrates-after-chipping-in-on-the-8th-hole-2wcj7cqu.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Jon Rahm celebrated after chipping in on the 8th hole\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>open image in gallery<\/p>\n<p>Jon Rahm celebrated after chipping in on the 8th hole (REUTERS)<\/p>\n<p>Rahm has been impeccable for Luke Donald, a player to harness as a weapon to confront the intimidating presence of Bryson DeChambeau on that first tee Thursday, but a selfless colleague, too, ready to combine with a new fourballs partner in Sepp Straka. <\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s chip-in was probably the shot of the week, if it wasn\u2019t, then perhaps another from his collection of masterpieces: the second to the sixth on Friday, hacked from some wispy fescue 87 yards out to within 12 yards. It salvaged the hole and provided a platform for \u2018Team Angry\u2019 to triumph, winning the next two holes and never looking back in a 4&amp;3 victory over DeChambeau and Justin Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy have also been near flawless for the blue and yellow \u2013 admittedly the Irishman halved his fourballs match yesterday. But Rahm has shown an icy cold demeanour, too, resisting the insults and heckling swirling around his every step around New York on Saturday morning. He was jeered after backing off his putt on five after a bug rudely settled on his ball.<\/p>\n<p>There was the crude, with numerous cries of \u201cf*** off, Rahmbo.\u201d Then the humorous: \u201cRahm! Tapas isn\u2019t food.\u201d But one of Rahm\u2019s friends and renowned celebrity chef Jose Andres provided a different perspective, muttering in response that \u201ctapas is food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Team-Europes-Jon-Rahm-celebrates-after-chipping-in-on-the-8th-hole-qvmwu6u1.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Rahm\u2019s spectacular chip helped earn another point\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>open image in gallery<\/p>\n<p>Rahm\u2019s spectacular chip helped earn another point (REUTERS)<\/p>\n<p>But for all of Rahm\u2019s exceptional skill, sadly not witnessed directly against the world\u2019s best as often as past years since his switch to LIV Golf, there is a character that enables the magic of Donald\u2019s Europe. A hidden ingredient behind their golfing beauty.<\/p>\n<p>A Hatton miss on five left him irritated, but Rahm skipped over, slapping his teammate on the back and encouraging him to banish any lingering negative thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>While one of Donald\u2019s assistants told The Independent about the key to Rahm\u2019s success and contribution to Europe: \u201cNo ego.\u201d The manner in which Rahm has taken to his new partnership with Straka underlines the selfless way he can adapt in a manner Scottie Scheffler seemingly cannot.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Jon-Rahm-of-Team-Europe-and-captain-Keegan-Bradley-of-Team-United-States-shake-hands-tpjj9yua.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Rahm shakes hands with Team USA captain Keegan Bradley\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/p>\n<p>open image in gallery<\/p>\n<p>Rahm shakes hands with Team USA captain Keegan Bradley (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe&#8217;s certainly a good partner to play with,\u201d Hatton chuckled after his latest victory alongside the former US Open and Masters champion. \u201cHe pulls out some unbelievable shots at very special times. Yeah, he&#8217;s an incredible player, and a good person to walk the fairways with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legend of \u2018Rahmbo\u2019 grows bigger with every Ryder Cup; a week when moments of wizardry and camaraderie elevate himself and the game of golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-165077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}