Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte was quite the day for Jon Rahm.
Rahm furiously worked himself into contention with three birdies through 11 holes and put pressure on eventual winner Scottie Scheffler. His further birdie opportunities went awry, though, and then he posted a bogey and two double bogeys across the final three holes to end tied for eighth.
Afterward, though, Rahm was quite calm about how it all worked out. And he cited some advice from an unusual source on how to cope when things go poorly on the course. That source? NBA on TNT analyst (and notoriously terrible golfer) Charles Barkley:
“I always like to go back a little bit on something that Charles Barkley likes to remind basketball players. Like, I play golf for a living. It’s incredible, right? Am I embarrassed a little bit at how I finished today? Yeah. But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not like it’s the end of the world. It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder or somebody where they have a bad day, truly bad things happen, right? So I’ll get over it, I’ll move on. Again, there’s a lot more positives than negatives to think about this week.”
That is logical advice from Barkley; ultimately, sports are just sports and far from the most serious thing in the world. And it makes sense that Rahm is taking more general motivational advice from Barkley rather than specific golf tips, while the NBA analyst loves golf and often contributes to different The Match broadcasts (he was even once linked to joining the broadcast team for LIV Golf, the series where Rahm plays), he shouldn’t be giving particular golf advice.
It was also notable to see Rahm take the time for a detailed conversation with media here, even following a brutal end to his tournament. He noted he was still “trying to process things,” but at the same time, thoughtfully engaged with reporters on what went wrong for him.
Similarly, fellow LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau spoke with CBS’ Amanda Balionis despite a rough finish of his own, while PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy joined the recent waves of golfers skipping conversations with media, avoiding media access opportunities after each of his four rounds at the tournament. Rahm, DeChambeau, and others have taken plenty of flak in recent years following their decisions to join LIV, but that duo won some plaudits from the press corps for their openness Sunday, even (or especially) after struggles.