Arriving in Adelaide with thoughts focussed only on his maiden LIV win, Jon Rahm was presented with a dilemma unlike any he’d encountered in his stellar career.
While back-to-back rounds of 62 from eventual winner Talor Gooch at the inaugural event in 2023 stood out as feats to try to match, the hole-in-one of Chase Koepka at the par three 12th, the “Watering Hole”, elevated the need for extra preparation for that one shot.
Rahm was quick to realise that would mean picking his “walk out music”, which would demand his attention as much as coming to grips with the beast that is layout of The Grange, and the 151m short iron he’ll need to play surrounded by raucous fans.
“So there’s a lot of conversation from a lot of people about what song we’ve picked. Apparently it’s a big deal,” Rahm said.
“I was not aware of that. I’m going to have to think about what I want. But yesterday while I was playing with (teammates) Tyrrell, Kieran and David Puig, everybody was talking about, I’ve picked this song or I’ve picked that song.
“I’m playing golf; it’s not like my mind is that focused on what song I’m going to be playing.”
After he considered the whole idea, Rahm, a tiw-time major champion, determined there could indeed be a positive impact.
“It does help when you have the positive reinforcement of a song that you like. You just go in there with a little bit of a different feeling,” he said.
“Now, in my case, it’s a lot easier to pick the right song to hit a drive as hard as you can. It’s a much smaller green than I thought. So you probably don’t want to go let’s say too high on your heart rate trying to hit a distance controlled shot with an 8- or 9-iron in a most likely windy area. You’re going to have to find that balance.”
Australian star Cam Smith conceded to serious nerves the first time he was confronted with the 12th in competition last year, and it showed.
“To be honest, I was kind of shitting myself, and I probably hit the worst shot of the week by far,” he said, acknowledging the need to take more things in to consideration than for a normal par three,
“I think I like fat flum-pushed it. It was so bad. I had about 50 meters left for my second shot.
“I got better gradually over the weekend, but it was pretty scary, to be honest, on that Friday afternoon.”
While Smith delivered some solid advice to teammate and first-timer Lucas Herbert, to “bring an umbrella,” fellow Aussie Marc Leishman, who did a “shoey” after a fine shot on Sunday, delivered the key message.
“Just remember to breathe,” he said.
“It was pretty intimidating even though it wasn’t that hard a shot just with the crowd going crazy. I actually hit three pretty good shots, which was nice, but the one that stands out for me is Sunday afternoon.
“It was my last hole, and I remember pouring a cold Leishman Lager into a warm shoe, and it was pretty warm when I drank it. The crowd went off, and it was a good way to finish off the tournament.”
Leishman will play with Ripper GC teammates Herbert and Matt Jones in the opening round, while Smith will play with Rahm in a feature group.