Getty Image / Gregory Shamus
Jon Rahm shared the same mindset as every golf fan and player in the field following the opening round of The Players. While everyone wanted the tournament to continue, even if fans weren’t allowed on the course, most knew that there was simply no way for the tournament to go on as the rest of the sports world had already hit pause due to ‘The Big Cancel.’
Rahm was looking forward to teeing it up on Friday after an opening-round 69, but he knew the announcement of the tournament being canceled was coming.
We all sensed something before the announcement. I kind of had the feeling that we were not going to finish that week,” Rahm told Ryan Asselta of SI.com.
Rory McIlroy voiced his concerns about The Big Cancel following his round on Thursday saying that the PGA Tour would need to shut everything down if one player or caddie tested positive and emphasized that he believed everyone needed to be tested. The tournament was canceled shortly after McIlroy’s post-round presser.
Rahm was in total agreeance with McIlroy and said they had both been in talks with the Tour asking them to buy a bunch of test kits, but that’s easier said than done.
“It was determined that we couldn’t just do that. If there was no way to test anybody, there was no way we could keep playing, Rahm said. “I think it was the right call and especially seeing how things are evolving in Europe.”
Seven days ago, when The Players was officially canceled, everything involving the big cancel was still in the very early stages States-side. While there are still many unknowns around the world, the United States was one of the last countries to see an outbreak while China and European countries had already been hit hard.
With Rahm hailing from Spain, he has a lot of family that lives in the town of Bilbao located on the north coast of the country. Spain has been put under lockdown, so while Rahm is at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona it’s understandable that his concerns lie with his family on the other side of the world, not when golf may return.
According to Sports Illustrated, Rahm’s mother is a midwife and she has been allowed to leave her home to go to work. The rest of the family, including his grandmother who just so happens to be the “most energetic 85-year-old you’ll ever meet” is under quarantine.
Rahm did explain that he has a great aunt that lives in a nursing home in Madrid, the city that has reported almost half of Spain’s confirmed cases.
“My great aunt has ALS and is in a nursing home where there’s been a confirmed case,” Rahm explained. “She’s lost control of much of her body and there’s a confirmed case in her home and she can’t even close her mouth. That is giving us the biggest scare right now.”
Golf isn’t anywhere close to being the top priority in Rahm’s mind at the moment.
[H/T Sports Illustrated]