Most people still don’t know my name, they only know me as “the guy that beat Jon Rahm” but that’s ok.
Two and a half years ago I was playing in Egypt on the Alps Tour, where you need to finish in the top five to not lose money. Then fast forward to now, my life has definitely changed. All the hard work has paid off and it’s good to be here.
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My grandfather was a caddie in Marbella, and when all the wealthy people came to Marbella to play golf, he would “borrow” a few golf clubs for my dad, so that’s how he then got into golf. When I was born in ’98, I was immediately taken to the driving range close to my house.
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When I was around 8 or 9 years old, that was when I had to decide between golf and football, because on the weekends you only really had time for one of those sports. My parents said “we know you love football, but it’s not fair for your football team that you are not 100% committed because you are splitting your time between this and golf.” Then for some reason I just chose golf in a split second decision.
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Most golfers then decide to go to University in America and I actually signed up with one, but I didn’t go. I was so bad at studying at school that I literally failed most of my exams. I had originally signed with Memphis for my first year and then was planning to go onto Florida, but I kept failing the exams and thought by the time I get finished with University I will be in my mid 20’s. So I turned pro. My father supported me, my mother wanted to kill me!
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I climbed the professional ranks pretty quickly. I came through the Alps Tour in 2021 and onto the Challenge Tour, now I’m finishing my second season on the DP World Tour which I think was crazy fast.
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The Open de Espana in Madrid this year was a dream week. It was like the perfect movie. Madrid was like my second home growing up. I spent so much time there with the Spanish team and lots of my friends live there. Then finding myself playing the final round against Jon Rahm, who is probably the best Spanish player of the last 30 years including Sergio Garcia, was very special. That week at the Spanish Open was the first time I have even spoken to him in over 10 years.
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Beating Jon in the playoff was what I needed. Winning your home Open, that energy you can only feel in either Majors or your home Open because your National Open is your National Open. It’s emotional for me thinking back to that win. I cried so much during and after, but that’s ok, it shows how much winning your home Open means.
Now I’ve taken down Jon Rahm, now I can take on anyone. Yes, things had to be going my way on the day, like Jon not playing his best that week, but it was good to know that I can win on Tour, so why can’t I win everywhere.
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Since then, the past few weeks have been amazing. Most people still don’t know my name, they only know me as “the guy that beat Jon Rahm” but that’s ok. But when you go somewhere and the people do recognise you, I love it. Especially juniors who want a signed cap or take a picture, I love it. I love it because I was in that place three years ago, so I know what it means for that kid. I even know that my results haven’t been as great since Madrid, but I’m not worried because I’m just enjoying this journey I’m on right now.
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Obviously, the way global golf is going is still unknown. I guess in the next month or so we will see what the next 10 or 20 years may look for us all. Whether some players play in a big league or separately I don’t know, but something does need to happen. We need to play for the history, the tournaments, the spectators and the brands as they all are the ones that put the money forward for our job, so we need to stop fighting as it’s not helping the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour. I don’t know how to say it in English, but we need to live in the same place but not fight.
Main image: Harry Grimshaw
