Troon, Scotland: Jon Rahm felt like one of the most popular players when he arrived at Royal Troon, even if it had nothing to do with him or his golf.
Spain is very much in the race now. Carlos Alcaraz won his second Grand Slam title of the year at Wimbledon on Sunday before Spain defeated England in the European Championship final. It is the latter that made Scottish fans celebrate the Spaniard.
Nobody in these parts likes to see England win anything.
“Played all 18 holes, and I think I got more compliments than I've ever done in my life,” Rahm said Tuesday. “I don't know what they did, but any time anyone plays against the English national team, all the other countries in Europe unite against them.
“I think because we've heard 'It's Coming Home' so many times over the last few years that nobody wants to see it come home at this point.”
Sergio Garcia threw in his first LIV golf tournament win at Valderrama, and Rahm wants nothing more than to extend Spain's winning streak.
Mostly, he needs it for himself.
The major championship season ends with the British Open, and Rahm has been a no-show. He was the Masters champion when he left for LIV Golf last December and has yet to win. His last win was the Masters almost 15 months ago.
He barely made the cut at the Masters. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He could not even play the US Open due to an infection in his leg.
“I didn't play my best last year at the Masters,” Rahm said. “The Ryder Cup was the only similarity in the early part of the year. But in Nashville and last week (the LIV events), I felt closer to getting to a higher level of golf where I don't have as many thoughts in my process. Maybe I'm playing a little more freely and seeing the ball flight that I'm a lot more. I want to see it again.
“I'm getting a lot closer to what it could have been at the beginning of last year.”
A foot infection, just before the US Open, sums up a frustrating year. Rahm was hopeful of playing Pinehurst No. 2 until he sought out a specialist, who numbed his leg and swabbed the infection to clean it up.
“When I saw that go in, I said, 'Well, I'm not going to play the Open,'” Rahm said. “Once I accepted the fact that I couldn't play I think it was a lot of fun. I think, as much as anyone else, I enjoyed watching the best players in the world struggle.”
He can relate to the struggle these days, especially in the majors.
Rahm is hoping to fix some of the issues with his driver by getting a new shaft, which will allow him to swing a little more freely. It was at Valhalla for the PGA Championship that he realized he needed a change.
The leg injury was a setback, but he battled through his next LIV event and then tied for 10th at Valderrama last week. He has a top 10 finish in every LIV event he has played in except for Houston, where he withdrew due to a foot injury.
Then again, LIV has the same 54 players each week, and only the top half will be considered among the elite in the game. Going a year without a win can be frustrating, much less the last 15 months.
Now it's on to Royal Troon, a course that usually plays easy on the way out and turns into a beast — and wind — on the way back.
Rahm had planned to play just nine holes on Monday, but the weather was as glorious as it likely would be all week and he wanted to enjoy it. Wind or calm, rain or shine, it's avoiding the pot bunkers and fairways that are key to this British Open.
And after this week, golf gets a little darker. He still has the LIV calendar to finish, but Rahm said his wife's pregnancy with their third child is not going well and she is on bed rest. He doesn't know if he'll be able to play the Spanish Open this fall.
And it won't be until next April that Rahm gets a chance to compete against the likes of Scotty Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schaufel. The best players now gather at the majors only four times a year.
“It's a decision I made,” he said of joining LIV. “Hopefully at some point golf can figure itself out, and we have opportunities to play against each other.”
