RBC Heritage: New Masters champion Jon Rahm chases more glory after gruelling Augusta win | Golf News

Jon Rahm claimed a four-shot victory at The Masters on Sunday and considered withdrawing from the RBC Heritage, although will headline the PGA Tour designated event; Watch early coverage live on Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf

New Masters champion Jon Rahm is targeting a “jacket double” after resisting the temptation to withdraw from the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head.

Rahm claimed his second major title with a four-shot victory at Augusta National on Sunday, taking him back to world No 1, although put celebrations on hold for a week to make the short journey from Georgia to South Carolina to headline the latest of the PGA Tour’s designated events.

“Monday I was extremely tired. I don’t know how else to say it honestly,” Rahm told a pre-tournament press conference at Harbour Town. “I was not very useful in any sense and I tried to be a dad as much as possible. We stayed one more day in Augusta and just tried to relax, had a family day and yesterday we flew here.

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Jon Rahm dedicates his 2023 Masters victory to Seve Ballesteros, who inspired him to start playing golf

“[It was] not the celebrating some people might think I’ll be doing. That will take part next week. It was a very demanding week, a lot going on with the weather and a lot of fighting and a lot of work mentally obviously. So it’s going to take a little bit to get to a good spot, but I’m feeling good.”

Rory McIlroy and Jason Day are among the players to have withdrawn from the RBC Heritage following The Masters, with McIlroy missing the cut and Day shooting a final round of 80, with Rahm decided against doing the same as he chases a fifth victory of the year.

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Jon Rahm says it’s a ‘unique’ feeling to be in the company of previous Masters winners and he hopes to build on his Augusta success

“It did cross my mind, but I made a commitment earlier in the year and I want to honour that commitment,” he added. “Talking to Kelley (his wife), I put myself in the shoes of not only the spectators, but the kids as well. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play good or bad, just want to be there.

“I still intend to hopefully do the jacket double and take this one home. But it did cross my mind [to withdraw] and obviously I think it would have crossed anybody’s because I was so tired.

“But that’s why I decided to come in yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and take it easier and just give my body a rest before I got into competition mode. I can promise you that every time I tee it up in a tournament, it’s going to be to win. I intend to try my hardest to win.

Scheffler pleased with Augusta finish

Rahm was presented with the Green Jacket by Scottie Scheffler, who signed off his title defence with another top-10 finish and could move back above the Spaniard as world No 1 this week.

Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler occupy the top two spots in the world rankings

“I definitely imagined myself putting on the jacket at the end of the week, but Jon (Rahm) is a very deserving champion,” Scheffler said. “For me, it was a good memory for the both of us. That was obviously a very special moment in his life, so I was glad I was able to share it with him and put the jacket on.

“Obviously I would rather the chairman be putting the jacket on me, but at the end of the day, when you get beat, that’s the beauty of the game of golf. You take your hat off, shake hands, and are able to congratulate him. I think I did a good job putting the jacket on. It didn’t look like he struggled too much, so it’s good.”

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Defending Masters champions Scottie Scheffler made an unusual four-putt on the par-four ninth at Augusta National

Scheffler successfully defended his WM Phoenix Open title in February and contended in title defences at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, finishing fourth in both, although the world No 2 admits he wasn’t at his best during the opening major of the year.

“I was kind of on the outside looking in, which was a bit frustrating, but I did my best,” Scheffler added. “It was just a weird week. I felt like I did a lot of stuff really bad and I felt like I hit it really good the first two days. Outside of that, I felt like I didn’t do a lot of stuff I was really overly pleased with.

“The first round I hit it amazing. I just did not putt good the first two days. It kind of felt like a little bit of an out-of-body experience. I was just proud of how I fought on the weekend. I made a lot of nice putts, and I was definitely much happier with how the weekend played out for myself.”

Watch the RBC Heritage throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Early coverage begins live on Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 7pm.