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Tuesday is a packed day at the PGA Championship, with a combined 24 majors’ worth of champions taking their turn at the media podium. Here’s a rundown of the major quotes, topics and storylines that emerged from the day.
Jon Rahm: Lessons learned from a decade of majors
Jon Rahm arrives in Charlotte in a good news-bad news situation. Good news is, he’s playing well; bad news is, he’s only been testing himself in LIV Golf fields. He finished T14 at the Masters last month, and has struggled at the PGA Championship. In nine starts, he has no finish higher than T4, and his missed cut last year was his first at any major since 2019.
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As he began his press conference, he shook his head at the fact that he’s been doing this for a decade now. “It goes by fast,” he said, “that's all I can say.”
Rahm noted that early in his career, “you always feel like, to win a major, you have to play perfect, which is not true,” he said. “Nine, 10 years ago I was thinking I had to play my absolute best in every aspect of the game, and I think if anything, you just have to have full faith in all aspects of your game and just learn how to manage the golf course that week.”
Asked about his own desire to win a grand slam — “I would love to do it” — Rahm, who’s won the Masters and the U.S. Open, took a moment to expound on the many ways that a player can guarantee immortality through majors.
“Obviously (the grand slam) would be a lot more on my mind if I were to win a third different one, kind of like Jordan (Spieth) has been able to do,” he said. “Let’s say I never achieve it, I’d rather have a situation like Sir Nick Faldo, where he has six of two of them instead of having maybe three different ones, if that makes sense.”
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Oh, but there’s more: “If you get all four of them, and if you won each one once, I think it’s so significant that you might take that over six,” he added. “Right now, I'd rather just think more about number three, and if it happens to be The Open or the PGA, then I'll focus on a possible Grand Slam. But as of right now, I don't want to think about it too much.”
Justin Thomas: 'I've literally done this before'
The last time the PGA Championship took place at Quail Hollow, Justin Thomas won, in just his third PGA ever. That gives him a sense of comfort that he hopes will carry him this week. “I've been fortunate enough to have success at courses multiple times in my career,” he said. “I think if you're able to get yourself in contention again, obviously it's going to differ of who is there, but I will always be able to say, if I'm coming down the stretch and trying to win the tournament, I can tell myself I've literally done this before here.”
The effect is psychological, but also physical: “It’s kind of bizarre,” he added, “just saying something like that, or something like that in your mind can be very helpful, but it is. I've hit the shots. I've made the putts. I've handled all of that mentally on this exact golf course in this exact tournament. So I think it's something that can be helpful and able to fall back on if I need-type thing.”
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