Jon Rahm had a rough finish at the PGA Championship on Sunday, but he found solace in the words of an unusual source.
Rahm quoted Charles Barkley after falling apart down the stretch at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. Rahm got himself in contention during the final round with three birdies in the first 11 holes, but faded down the stretch with two double bogeys.
Rahm, however, leaned on Barkley’s message to NBA players about how great it is to be able to compete at the highest level.
“I always like to go back a little bit on sometimes that Charles Barkley likes to remind basketball players all the time. I play golf for a living. It’s incredible,” Rahm told reporters. “Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today? Yeah. But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world.
“It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder, somebody who if they have a bad day, truly bad things happen. I’ll get over it. I’ll move on. It’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week.”
Jon Rahm shares some advice he got from NBA legend Charles Barkley and it’s the perfect dose of #MondayMotivation for all golfers! 👏 pic.twitter.com/cBIMAn3cwA
— PGA of America (@PGA) May 19, 2025
Rahm tied for eighth in a perfectly respectable finish, and is taking the right perspective here. It’s just a bit funny and unusual to see Barkley’s wisdom applied to a completely different sport. That is especially true for Rahm, who does not always keep his cool the way he would presumably like to.
Barkley himself is a big golf fan and will probably enjoy that Rahm is using him as inspiration. Maybe Chuck can use it as motivation to fine-tune his golf swing, though it has gotten better than it used to be.
