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There’s always a wobble in every match in every Ryder Cup.
Sometimes, it’s a good thing. The match wobbles in your direction. The putts drop, and things seem easy.
Then it wobbles the other way. How did things suddenly get so tricky? Because that’s what match play, and the Ryder Cup, is—chaotic veering between opposite ends of the spectrum. It’s what makes the third principle of Seve Ballesteros’ handwritten advice to his players during his captaincy in 1997 so telling.
“3. Look for stability.”
From Per-Ulrik Johansson..
‘Seve wrote this note for every player at the 1997 Ryder Cup. I found it folded up in my golf bag that I hadn’t unpacked until recently, 27 years later. Seve was extremely inspiring to play for and we succeeded at Valderrama!’ pic.twitter.com/VkkUrUDjZE
— Mark Townsend (@MTownsendGolf) September 26, 2025
If there’s one man who has typified that principle during these first two days of the Ryder Cup, it’s Jon Rahm.
For Rahm, finding stability came in various forms.
For the fourth time in four Ryder Cups, the Spaniard was entrusted with leading off the first match of the first session. It was a task that for years had fallen to Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
Rahm is the man now.
“The only real way to prepare for Ryder Cup pressure is to have lived it before,” he said. “If you’ve been part of an away Ryder Cup, you already know what that first tee feels like—the noise, the songs, the heckling, the fact that the whole week seems to funnel into that single moment. You can tell yourself to breathe and focus, but until you’ve stood there with everyone watching, you don’t really know how your body will respond. For rookies, it’s a complete unknown—you’ll only discover who you are in that cauldron when you put the peg in the ground and take that first swing.”
David Cannon
The wobble in that match came early. Rahm blew that first drive wide right, then pulled his first iron shot left. They fell to an early one-down lead that lingered until the sixth hole. Without sporting his best stuff during the early part of the match, stability came from appreciating the play of his partner. When the wobble settled, so did the match: a 4&3 victory.
“This man is a joy to be partnered with,” Rahm said. “We spend a lot of time together and he can be very, very dependable when things get difficult. I have full confidence every single time.”
That afternoon, it was Rahm’s turn to provide the stable force.
Michael Reaves/PGA of America
His partner, Sepp Straka, lost more than two shots with his irons. It didn’t matter. Rahm’s putter caught fire—three of the four holes Europe won came courtesy of Rahm’s putts. The clincher came from the struggling Straka, whom Rahm had been coaching through the round.
“To have Jon today was great because I did not have my game,” Straka said. “He kept reminding me that it’s there. Just keep pushing and he told me to just put a confident swing on the last hole and I did.”
The wobble came again once the pair crossed the road separating Bethpage’s first and final four holes.
Rahm stood on the 15th tee, waiting for the crowd to react to what was unfolding on the two giant television screens that sandwiched the tee box.
How the Americans had just captured the first match of the day.
That McIlroy and Fleetwood’s four-up lead had dropped to two in two holes.
That Scheffler was heating up, spurring two wins in his previous three holes to square the match.
Scott Taetsch/PGA of America
As the crowd settled, Rahm took his eyes off the screen. He looked down, took a deep breath, and stepped into the ball. In a moment when things felt on the edge, Rahm once again provided the stability. His drive flew 308 yards down the right side of the hole. A hole later, Rahm hit his approach to three feet, won the match, and helped secure a pivotal 3-1 session.
“There are always moments when everything goes against you,” Rahm said afterwards. “Even when things are going well, you never want to get too high or too low.”
The success of this European Ryder Cup team is in large part due to the characters involved. Rory McIlroy is in many ways its emotional leader. Justin Rose its veteran presence. Tommy Fleetwood its soul. And Jon Rahm its stability. He’s the rock this team can depend on, in good moments and bad.
It’s a strange skill to master, but Rahm has. And in the chaos of an hostile, away Ryder Cup, it’s become Team Europe’s most essential one.
Main Image: Andrew Redington
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