2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm opened his tournament with a four-putt double bogey before turning things around to run away with the victory Sunday at Augusta.
After donning his first green jacket, Rahm called out Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz for a text sent before the fateful first hole.
“For those people who believe in jinxing other players, people, whatever it may be, Thursday morning, when I was getting on the golf cart to get to this putting green 10 minutes before my tee time, I saw a text from a good friend of mine, and I’m going to name him because he’s a Super Bowl-winning champion, Zach Ertz,” Rahm said. “He sent the text, and I’m going to paraphrase here, but he said, ‘That first green looking like a walk in the park, or something like that, right now.’ Ten minutes before I four-putted to start the tournament. So thank you, Zach. Don’t ever do that again, please.”
Fellow friend and recently retired star defensive end J.J. Watt confirmed the text exchange by sharing screenshots of the back-and-forth.
“Let’s have a day, Jon!! Start fast!!” Ertz wrote.
Watt replied: “Let’s go, Jon!!! Pretend you’re playing with Zach and I. You’ll set the course record.”
“First hole green looks like a walk in the park,” Ertz said.
In a separate text exchange with only Watt, Ertz wrote after Rahm yanked his putts on the first green: “4 putt to start the round…not ideal,” to which Watt replied, “Horrendous. I said pretend you’re playing WITH us not like (you’re) playing LIKE us.”
Maybe the comment got into Rahm’s head to open the Masters, but he quickly settled down, birdieing the next two holes en route to a 65 opening round. The 28-year-old skated away with the tournament victory on Sunday, leading the entire back nine and finishing the weekend 12-under par.
“I apologize for absolutely nothing!” Ertz wrote on Twitter in response to Rahm’s comments. “You can expect these texts every major going forward my friend! Congratulations!”