Ryder Cup: Jon Rahm hoping for partnership with Rory McIlroy in Paris
Wednesday 26 September 2018 10:29, UK
Jon Rahm would welcome the chance to form a "fearless" partnership with Rory McIlroy as he looked forward to making his Ryder Cup debut this week.
European captain Thomas Bjorn described Rahm as "the most exciting player to come in the game since Rory" at his press conference on Tuesday, and the Spaniard has played alongside McIlroy in practice over the first two days at Le Golf National.
Rahm believes he will be paired with one of the more experienced players in the team, and he sees McIlroy as the ideal partner to help him settle into his first experience of the contest.
"If I were to play with Rory, we've played a lot together and I think we know each other's game very well and we have a very similar game plan in mind," said Rahm, who is one of three Europeans in the world's top 10.
"I think the one thing you can say about both of us is that we are both fearless. We really complement each other very well. But again, I could play with any of the other 11 guys, I have equally as good a time as I would with Rory.
"I think I will be paired with an experienced player. They are not going to put two rookies up on Friday morning, so I will be playing with somebody who knows what's going on and who can most likely keep me under control on a Friday morning.
"I feel like I'm going to have electricity coming out of me, so you can imagine I might tee off with somebody who is a little more calm than me, which is not hard to do. I can play with anybody, but I believe I will play with somebody experienced."
Rahm is also enjoying the chance to fulfill a career dream in playing on the same team as his veteran compatriot, Sergio Garcia, and he sees further similarities in their games and character.
"It's always been a dream of mine to share the stage with Sergio, just because he's been in my shoes," said Rahm. "He played The Ryder Cup when he was 18, 19 years old, so he was even younger than I was, and I feel at this point I'm the youngest on the team by a couple years.
"I think he understands me as a fellow Spaniard, as both fiery players, I think he understands me more than anybody else. Whether we play together or not, he's going to be able to help me out most out of anybody in the world. I'm really looking forward to this week, spending it with him."
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