Jon Rahm Explained Why Brooks Koepka Ripped Him for Being a ‘Child’ at Ryder Cup

The Spaniard's fiery on-course behavior is well-known and he believes a brief incident was the source of Koepka's post-match rant.

ROME — Jon Rahm calmly explained Saturday what he believed to be the basis for Brooks Koepka’s acting "like a child" comments from Friday, saying he’s acted worse on a golf course and isn’t going to change.

The Spanish star, who won the Masters in a final-round battle against Koepka and forged a hard-fought tie with partner Nicolai Hojgaard against Koepka and Scottie Scheffler on Friday by making an eagle at two of the last three holes, said he believes the issue concerned when he missed a putt on the 17th hole of their match.

Jon Rahm eagled two holes late to salvage a tie in a fourball match with Brooks Koepka :: Andrew Medichini/AP

"I'm not going to stand here and say I'm a perfect example on what to do on a golf course," Rahm said after he and Tyrrell Hatton, who was sitting next to him, defeated Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. "I don't think either of us two are (laughter). But I play and compete.

“I play and compete the way I need to play and compete. And I think he mentioned it. I’m happy I left a 10-footer short on 17 to possibly tie the hole, and going up to the tee, I let off some frustration hitting the board sideways. I kept walking, never stopped, that was it.

“If Brooks thinks that’s childish, it is what is. He’s entitled to what he thinks, and I mean, I don’t know what else to say."

Scheffler and Koepka birdied the final five holes of their match on Friday afternoon, only to see Rahm—who had made no birdies to that point—make eagles at the 16th and 18th holes. The latter won the hole for the Europeans, which meant a tied match instead of a U.S. victory.

It was an extremely difficult day for the Americans, as they failed to win an outright point and had three tied matches.

Afterward, in a brief television interview, Koepka said: “I mean, I think me and Scottie birdied, what did we say, 14, we birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and then lost by two," Koepka said, referring to losing two of the last three holes anyway. “So yeah. I mean, I want to hit a board and pout just like Jon Rahm did. But, you know, it is what it is. Act like a child. But we're adults. We move on."

Koepka has not been available to the media. He and Scheffler were soundly beaten, 9 and 7, by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg on Saturday morning. Neither American player was in the lineup for afternoon fourballs.

Rahm has admitted to anger issues that he’s tried to control on the golf course. The two-time major winner had an outburst this year at the U.S. Open where he twice slammed a golf club into a sign board outside of the scoring area.

There have been other instances, which Rahm said he’s worked to control. Many believed Koepka might have been referring to that U.S. Open incident.

"I've done much worse on a golf course like that," Rahm said. "That doesn't even register to a low level of Jon anger on the golf course.

“As far as I'm concerned, I'm very happy with who I am, and I needed to do that at that moment to let off some steam and play the hole I wanted to do. And clearly it worked out, played two great shots and got a little lucky on the putt. I needed to do what I needed to do to perform under those circumstances.

“Is it right or wrong, childish or not, I don't know, but that's what I needed at the moment."

Rahm said he’s had no problems with Koepka and that perhaps it was simply frustration at the outcome.

"I’ve never had an issue with Brooks, to be fair," Rahm said. ”I don't know now, but up until yesterday afternoon, I thought we had a pretty good relationship. We're both pretty much straight-up people that don't like the BS—excuse my language—in between. There's always been that mutual respect. And he's always been an incredible player, and he's always done amazing things.

“And it could be that. Listen, had I seen somebody make the putt on 18 the way I did, I would not have been the happiest of people either. Clearly there was a little bit of luck involved with that. But it is match play. I think we saw plenty of the opposite when we were at Whistling Straits two years ago.

“I think it could be attributed to it being a long day and seeing what happened on the last three holes that we did. I really don't know what else to say about it. It was a heck of a match. I think they played 10 under par, and Nicolai and I had a great day it. Was really, really fun to be a part of it and experience that."