Jon Rahm couldn’t believe it when he first heard about the history he had achieved by winning the 2023 Masters.
In fact, when informed in the press room following his victory last month at Augusta National that he had become the first European player to win both a Masters and a U.S. Open, his initial response was, “Huh?”
As in, you’ve got to be kidding.
Once he was assured it was true and he let that sink in, he said, “I find it hard to believe. If there’s anything better than accomplishing something like this, it’s making history. So the fact that you tell me that, to be the first-ever European ever to do that, hard to explain (how I feel).”
Since the inaugural Masters was played in 1934, the European golfer with the most career major championship victories is England’s Nick Faldo with six (three Masters, three British Opens, never a U.S. Open or PGA Championship). Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is next with four, but he has never won the Masters.
And then you have a list of European greats such as Rahm’s compatriots from Spain, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, and Jose-Maria Olazabal, Germany’s Bernhard Langer, and England’s Tony Jacklin and Justin Rose who have a Masters or a U.S. Open, but not both.
Yes, Rahm is the first, though if you’ve seen him play since he debuted out on the PGA Tour in 2016, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s the one making said history.
“I don’t know what to tell you. It is a pretty good duo of majors,” Rahm said. “Out of all the accomplishments and the many great players that have come before me, to be the first to do something like that, it’s a very humbling feeling.”
Apr 9, 2023; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Jon Rahm reacts on the 18th green after winning The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network
Obviously, should Rahm go on to win the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, he’d be the first European to achieve that triumvirate of major victories, and then the conversation would shift in a big way to the same one that has dogged McIlroy and American Jordan Spieth for several years.
Only five players in history have won all four major championships, otherwise known as the career grand slam. They are Americans Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods, and South African Gary Player.
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