Considering the exceptional form of Jon Rahm through 2023 so far, there was always a strong possibility that the Spaniard would claim his first Masters title this year.
In the end, he did it in some style, easing past LIV Golf players Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson by four shots to claim his first Green Jacket.
For Rahm, though, it had clearly been an ambition for considerably longer than just this year. Way back in November 2013, the day before his 19th birthday, Rahm predicted he’d win the tournament after receiving a message in a fortune cookie that read: “Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded”. Rahm, posted an image of the message on Twitter and wrote: “I am gonna win The Masters!”
I am gonna win the masters! @goodwalkspoiled pic.twitter.com/c7oT46dMGGNovember 9, 2013
At that time, despite a glittering amateur career, Rahm was still over two years away from turning professional, so, however lighthearted his claim was, most observers would have considered the idea at least somewhat far-fetched.
One person who did have faith in him back then, though, was Rahm’s former coach and mentor Tim Mickelson, who responded: “I do not doubt you for a minute. Power of the mind can be a beautiful thing my friend.”
“@littleJRmaza: I am gonna win the masters!" I do not doubt you for a minute. Power of the mind can be a beautiful thing my friend.November 9, 2013
In another quirk of fate, Rahm’s former coach is the brother of three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson, who finished behind Rahm in second place along with Brooks Koepka. And who was Mickelson's caddie during this year's Augusta National tournament? Tim Mickelson!
If further signs were needed that Rahm’s win seemed destined, he claimed the Green Jacket on the birthday of Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, who would have turned 66 on Easter Sunday. Not only that, but it also marked 40 years since Ballesteros claimed the second of his two Masters wins.
Those were points not lost on Rahm, either, who said afterwards: “For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it's incredibly meaningful. To finish it off the way I did - an unusual par, very much a Seve par, it was in a non-purposeful way, a testament to him, and I know he was pulling for me today, and it was a great Sunday.”
After Rahm's decade-old prediction came true, he became the fourth Spaniard to wear the Green Jacket following Ballesteros, two-time winner Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia, who claimed his only Major win to date in the 2017 event.
