Jon Rahm claimed he has been "the best player in the world" since August before addressing whether he felt bad for Collin Morikawa after the American saw his seven-stroke advantage erased by the fiery Spaniard on the final day of the PGA Tour's Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Morikawa looked visibly stunned as he surrendered his mammoth 54-hole advantage in Hawaii.
Rahm suggested to the media in the immediate aftermath of his eighth PGA Tour victory that he reckoned he "needed a miracle" after he made bogey on the first hole of his final round.
What followed was an absolute clinic in ball-striking from the World No.5 and 2020 U.S. Open champion who carded a 10-under 63 on the Plantation Course on Sunday.
Morikawa later admitted his sadness at what happened.
As for Rahm, does he feel bad for Morikawa?
He told the media:
"I don't know how to answer that without sounding very rude. As competitors, no, I want to win. That's all I can tell you.
"I've been where he's been before. I've made a mess of a round before. Especially in amateur golf I've done it before. I think we've all been there. You don't want to see that happen really ever. You want to beat everybody at their best.
"But if the best Collin had shown up today I wouldn't have won. That's all I can say. So I always wish the best for everybody, but at this moment it's something -- not that he needs to learn a lot more from golf, because we all know what he's capable of, but it's something he's going to learn a lot from."
Surprisingly, Rahm's spot in the Official World Golf Ranking hasn't changed despite being in blistering form.
Since finishing T-2 at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour, Rahm has finished in the top-10 of every tournament he has played.
Rahm - in stark contrast to Rory McIlroy - previously described the situation regarding world ranking points as "laughable".
That being said, does Rahm want to regain the top spot?
Rahm said:
"Oh, I definitely do, yeah. And had they not changed the world ranking points, I would have been pretty damn close right now. At this point I'm thinking will I pass Patrick Cantlay? Because since the playoffs, I have not missed a top seven. I've won three times, and I don't even get close to him. So I'm trying to understand what's going on.
"But in my mind, I feel like since August I've been the best player in the world, I feel like, and I think a lot of us should feel like a lot of times we're the best. Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it's been me."
He added:
"Anybody any given year can get a hot three, four months and get to that spot. It's the level of golf we're at nowadays. It is what it is. It's very difficult to stay up there and it requires a lot of golf.
"But we're all working hard. I know everybody's putting in a lot of effort to try to stay there as long as possible. But to answer that, yes, I want to be back up there because it's something you want to do, obviously. But you need to play good and win tournaments, nobody's going to give it to you."
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Rahm also revealed why he wore black pants on Sunday in Hawaii.
Apparently, Tiger Woods was on his mind.
Rahm said:
"I forgot almost all the belts I was supposed to bring. So I had a navy belt and a black belt. And I told Kelley, I'm not about to be a hot as hell all week wearing black pants an darker shirts, so navy it is.
"Then I went to Sunday and I said, I do not want to wear navy pants again. So, because we're teeing off at 10 a.m., there goes the black pants.
"And that's all I can tell you. I know it's a stupid answer to a stupid question, but that's the truth. I usually don't want to wear anything that's close to red with black on Sundays because of Tiger. That's his outfit.
"But that's why I wear gray or navy or other things usually. I don't want to get close to him.
"But, yeah, I just, I just didn't want to wear navy anymore. I forgot my belts, that's all it is. They actually, TravisMathew shipped me this one so I had something else and it wasn't just navy. I know, you would not expect that. I also forgot socks. Yeah, I forgot a few things."
Next page: Jordan Spieth reacts to "disrespectful" question
