Jon Rahm savours Masters win as Phil Mickelson responds in style

Rahm was surprised to learn that his four-shot victory at Augusta National had earned him a place in the record books as the first European player to win the Masters and US Open.

But he is well aware that means he is halfway towards joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to have won all four majors. Rory McIlroy needs to win the Masters to complete his collection, while victories for runner-up Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth in the US Open and US PGA, respectively, would gain them entry into golf’s most exclusive club.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Rahm. “I mean, it would be amazing. It would be great. Not many people have been able to do it, and to be able to finish it out and close out and do a grand slam would be absolutely amazing.

“I would like to say that I entered the race when I won the US Open, but of course you’re so far away, you don’t want to think about it. But, as players, it’s on your mind. It’s something else that would be amazing.

“But it’s a long road ahead to be able to accomplish that. Something that two players like Phil and Arnie [Palmer] weren’t able to do, it speaks a lot.”

Rahm dedicated his Masters victory to Seve Ballesteros after claiming his second major title on the 40th anniversary of his late idol’s second win at Augusta National.

Rahm’s four-shot win over Brooks Koepka and Mickelson also came on what would have been Ballesteros’s 66th birthday and was rounded off with a par on the 18th of which the mercurial Spaniard would have been proud.

“History of the game is a big part of why I play and one of the reasons why I play, and Seve being one of them,” said Rahm, pictured, whose father took up golf after watching Ballesteros captain Europe to victory in the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama.

“If it wasn’t for that Ryder Cup in ’97, my dad and I talk about it all the time, we don’t know where I would be or where as a family we would be.

“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it’s incredibly meaningful.”

Mickelson hopes he can use his surprise second place in the Masters as a “stepping stone” for the rest of his career. Mickelson began the final round 10 shots off the lead held by Koepka, but as Koepka faded it was the 52-year-old American who put the most pressure on Rahm with five birdies in the last seven holes.

Mickelson has been noticeably subdued and “didn’t speak at all” at the pre-tournament Champions Dinner, 1979 winner Fuzzy Zoeller told Golfweek. However, there was a spring in his step as he spoke to the media after his round, having declined to give a formal press conference earlier in the week.

“Hopefully it’s a stepping stone,” said Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship two years ago.

“I know I’ve been playing really well. But when I’ve been competing, I have not been staying present.”