Jon Rahm gives it large to England ahead of The Open: "Nobody wants to see it come home"

Former world number one Jon Rahm was understandably in a buoyant mood ahead of the 152nd Open Championship after a sensational month in sport for the Spanish. 

The 2023 Masters champion met with reporters on Tuesday morning ahead of his tilt at the final men's major of the year at Royal Troon. 

Last Sunday, Spain enjoyed a glittering day of success after Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, Sergio Garcia claimed his maiden victory on the breakaway LIV Golf League at Valderrama and the men's national football side defeated England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin. 

Rahm said he watched the final alongside his European Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton. 

The 29-year-old said Hatton used some colourful language when the goals went in for Spain and his reaction when Cole Palmer equalised for the Three Lions was 'electric'. 

Rahm joked that whenever England play football, for some reason, the whole world unites against them. 

"I think I got more congratulations for something that I didn't do than I ever have in my life," Rahm said of Spain's 2-1 win. 

"I don't know what they've done, but anytime anybody plays against the English national team, every other country in Europe just unifies against them. 

"I don't know why or what they've done. I'm not aware of the history."

He added: "I think because we've heard 'It's Coming Home' so many times the last few years, that nobody wants to see it come home at this point."

Does he know all the words?

"No, so I didn't know what it was until they made the championship last final, and then I didn't know it was a song until Tyrrell showed me last Wednesday," he said. 

"So I really didn't know the whole history about it.

"He picked it as his song on the first day, and I told him nobody in Spain is going to know what that is. 

"There's going to be the three or four English people that are there that are going to understand, but nobody else is going to know."

Open Championship expectations

Rahm comes into the major as a somewhat of an unknown quantity. 

His defence at The Masters was a largely forgettable experience given it was overshadowed by the comments he made about hoping his switch to LIV last December would've been the catalyst to unite the fractured sport. 

Rahm also implored the breakaway tour to switch their format to 72 holes. 

A missed cut followed at the PGA Championship, followed by a withdrawal from the U.S. Open on the eve of the third major because of a foot injury. 

Aside from the majors, Rahm's form on LIV has been good although he is yet to win. 

So how does he feel this week?

"Last year from Masters on I didn't really play my best," he said.  

"I didn't feel at my best up until Ryder Cup.

"[The] Ryder Cup was the only resemblance to maybe the early part of the year."

He added: "This year the first half hasn't been my best, but I would say it started in Houston where I kind of started feeling that comfort with the swing again. 

"And I'm talking about such a small margin. 

"I still have been playing good golf all throughout that time. 

"[It was] too bad I couldn't play in Houston, obviously in the U.S. Open.

"But Nashville and last week, I felt closer to getting to a higher level of golf where maybe there isn't as many thoughts on my process. 

"Maybe I'm playing a little bit more freely and seeing the ball flight that I want to see more often.

"Yeah, I'm getting much closer to what it might have been early last year."

Watched our latest YouTube video?