Jon Rahm reveals why he played poorly in the majors last season

Jon Rahm is determined to put behind his disappointing showing in the 2022 majors by adding a second major title in 2023.

Andy Roberts

05 Jan 2023

Jon Rahm reveals why he played poorly in the majors last season

Jon Rahm admits his poor performances in the majors in 2022 were a result of him "battling" his golf swing for much of the year.

Rahm was speaking to the media ahead of competing in the first event of 2023 on the PGA Tour at the Touranement of Champions at Kapalua in Hawaii where he finished runner-up behind Cameron Smith last January.

Despite winning three times in 2022, ending the year in style with a third victory in four starts at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Rahm was left somewhat disappointed in the four big tournaments of the year at The Masters (T27), US PGA (T48), US Open (T12) and The Open (T34).

Rahm said:

"I was close at the US Open. I was one back, I just had a bad final round," said Rahm as he reflected on his major showing in 2022.

"I don't think there's a way to explain it. For people that may not believe it, I battled my swing most of the year. I wasn't as comfortable as I was the year prior and that showed.

"Then when you go to major championship golf where you need to be better in every single way, those mistakes are going to show. It seems like in the fall things got going a little bit better.

"I felt like for the most part I was playing better than scores were showing. Maybe once the PGA Tour season was over I took some time off and reset and that's why I played well in the fall."

Rahm is determined to change all of that in 2023 by adding a second major victory to his 2021 US Open triumph.

"I set my goals every year and I'm pretty ambitious so I'm not always going to accomplish everything I set my mind out to.

"It can be tough in a sport where the most accomplished athlete of all time won 30 per cent of the time, right? That being Tiger (Woods).

"I think there's a lot of things you can do well as an athlete and as a player to consider a positive year. Obviously, you want to win events. That's there. The only thing I didn't do last year that I wish I would have done is compete better in majors and give myself a better chance.

"So obviously that being a goal this year, hopefully get number two and give Spain another major."