It’s the first time this year that it’s felt like it should. I wouldn’t say there was a key because it is the strength of my game. I was able to accomplish that by staying focused on my lines and swing.”
Jon Rahm’s comeback from a four-putt on the opening hole was notable in his 65 points first-round win at the Masters. Rahm kept up the momentum after the double-bogey with seven birdies and an eagle to take the first-round lead at Augusta National.
Rahm’s ball-striking skills also caught viewers’ attention. He was the best player in the field in all metrics, hitting every fairway and only missing one green. He also had a 310-yard tee average.
Rahm, who has finished in the top five in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in each of his first six TOUR seasons, is not in good form. Last season, he ranked first in the competition, but as of this week, he was ranked 28th.
Rahm talked about his driving skills on Thursday “It’s the first time this year that it’s felt like it should. I wouldn’t say there was a key because it is the strength of my game. I was able to accomplish that by staying focused on my lines and swing.”
At the beginning of the year, Rahm switched to Callaway’s newly released Triple Diamond. In 2023, he won his first two PGA TOUR matches before adding another victory of three matches later. In both the FedExCup and the world, he was ranked first position.
It was more difficult for Rahm to hit his favored cut shot off the tee with the new driver since it was spinning less than his old one, but it can be overlooked to adjust when experiencing continuous winnings.
Rahm said on Thursday that he has finally found a driver he was comfortable with, after experimenting with a number of different Callaway Triple Diamond heads in 2023. He switched to this most recent set at THE PLAYERS but was forced to retire due to sickness after a first-round score of 71. With the club, he also had a T31 result at the Dell Technologies Match Play World Golf Championships.
In Jacob Davidson’s words, “You watched him start to aim farther and farther left early in the year even though he was spinning it at a few hundred RPMs less than he did last year. He couldn’t get the driver to be as accurate as he would have liked. We simply focused on helping him increase his spin so he could cut it and have his drives land more accurately. He prefers to take a big amount of a curve and aim down the left side to get himself back to that.”
The lowest point was when he was last among his competitors at the Arnold Palmer Invitational organized by Mastercard with a T39. This was in the Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee phase of the tournament; where players compete to make the most cuts on the field.
His driving cost him almost two strokes as he made his way to a T39 finish, his worst on the TOUR since last July. However, Rahm and Callaway believed they discovered a solution during THE PLAYERS practice rounds.
He continues to employ the same model of driver’s head as at the year’s beginning; a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond of 10.5 degrees – but switched to another head and changed the hosel setting from NS to NS+1, giving the head an extra loft.
Rahm’s favored style of shot was brought back by the higher spin caused by the additional loft. Rahm was given access to a variety of heads from Callaway to assist him to choose one that isn’t too close given the loft addition.
Rahm shot a 71 at TPC Sawgrass in his first round with the new team, missing just one fairway out of the final nine holes.
Quoting Davidson’s words; “We were confident that our situation was favorable, but it was unfortunate that he fell ill. He had some incredible sessions with (teacher) David Phillips last week while they were working together. In Scottsdale last week, he took around 60 shots. We were aware that he was scoring well going into this week. “
Rahm will have a better opportunity to win at Augusta National this week because of his improved driving, which appears to be reborn once more.
