Getty Jon Rahm and his parents
Jon Rahm was born in Barrika, Basque country, Spain, on November 10, 1994. The pro golfer grew up with a brother, Eriz, and their parents are Edorta and Angela Rahm. His family still lives in Spain while Rahm lives with his wife and kids in Arizona.
Here’s what you need to know about Jon Rahm’s parents Edorta and Angela Rahm:
1. Jon Rahm Was Born to Edorta Rahm, a Businessman, & Ángela Rodríguez, a Midwife, & He Grew Up With an Older Brother
Rahm grew up in Barrika, Spain, in the Basque country, with an older brother named Eriz Rahm. His parents are Edorta Rahm, who works in the gasoline industry and Ángela Rodríguez, a midwife, according to the Spanish newspaper El País. His brother works as a set designer at the Palacio Euskalduna, a theater in Bilbao.
Rahm is close with his family and he had a happy childhood, although one of his college teammates said Rahm’s childhood home was a small and modest one. “His family treated me like a king,” Rahm’s teammate Ben Shur told Golf of his 2014 visit.
“Man, every meal was so good, and some lasted for four hours,” he continued. “But I’ll never forget seeing Jon’s room. It was tiny, and there was this little bunk bed for him and his brother that took up most of the room. The mattress was so small that when Jon lay down, his feet would dangle off the edge. So, as much success as he’s having now, he’s never going to forget where he came from.”
Rahm’s father liked a lot of different sports, and the golfer told Today’s Golfer that he “was into extreme sports like free rock climbing, free skiing, massive mountain hiking and parasailing. He and my mum hiked up Mont Blanc and came down skiing.” It was because of his father that he first started playing golf, as he explained that his parents and their friends decided to try it after attending the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama.
“Golf was so unlike him but somehow his friends convinced him,” Rahm shared. “They all ended up trying it.” The pro golfer said he inherited from his father the feeling that anything is possible for those who can conquer their fears while he said his mother “was the one we would go to if we needed to discuss emotions and feelings.”
2. Jon Rahm’s Family Began Playing Golf & His Mother Convinced Her Golfing Instructor to Take on Her Son
After discovering golf, the Rahm family began playing golf at the Martiartu sports club, which wasn’t a golf club. The two closest golf clubs were out of the family’s means. Instead, the family joined the Larrabea golf club, which was an hour’s drive away from their home.
Rahm’s father told Andalucia Golf that he’d go to Larrabea to play and would drop his son off while he played golf with his friends. “I’d say to him, ‘Hey, we’re going home at six, do whatever you want,'” he recalled, “until a friend of ours told me, ‘Hey, Edorta, this kid plays golf well. Why don’t you take him to the Spanish children’s championship?'” Edorta Rahm said he sent him to the championship with Rahm’s grandparents and at that point, his son started pursuing the sport more seriously.
Rahm’s mother was taking golf lessons from Eduardo Celles, whose parents and grandparents were golf teachers, and one day she asked him to watch her son play, he recalled in an interview with El País. Celles said Rahm was around 13 years old and he was really impressed by the quality and skill the young boy was already showing. He then took him on as a student for the next two years and helped him develop his swing.
3. The Rahm Family Began Spending Weekends & Summers at a Rented House on the Golf Course
Rahm played a lot of sports growing up, including soccer and martial arts, but golf soon turned into a major passion that was clear to see. According to El País, the Rahm family began renting a home on the golf course for weekends and the summer, and Rahm would spend his days on the putting green in front of the house, and he’d still be there come 9 p.m.
His mother told the publication that he would completely forget to eat or drink and would just be hitting balls for hours. Rahm’s older brother Eriz also played and became a golf instructor.
Although Rahm is now living in Arizona, his family still lives in Spain and he returns to visit as often as possible, usually for Christmas. His mother told El País that when she looks at Rahm she still sees just her son, not a famous athlete, but is very proud of where he is now. Rahm praised his parents, telling the publication that they taught him hard work and discipline and the values he has today.
4. Jon Rahm Said His Father Insisted That He Go to University in the U.S. & Learn English
Rahm’s parents always pushed him to improve, not just in sports but in his education. His father told Andalucia Golf that they both felt it was really important for Rahm to get a degree because he knew a career as a professional athlete wasn’t a guarantee. “You take the list of British Amateur champions and there are a lot of them who we haven’t heard about since, or the Spanish national champions,” he explained.
That said, Edorta revealed that it wasn’t hard to insist that Rahm finish his college degree because he said his son was happy at school and enjoyed the competition. Rahm said when he got the opportunity to go to the U.S. on a golf scholarship to Arizona State University, his father pushed him to go. “My dad literally just dropped me off at the airport, and said, ‘Goodbye, son. Let me know when you get there,'” Rahm told PennLive.
He said his father told him that he would be maximizing his chance at a career in golf if he went to the States and also told him, “If you don’t like it, the worst that will happen is you can learn English.” Rahm said his father treated his skills at golf completely differently than most parents of athletes. Rather than filling him with a lot of confidence about the future, Rahm said his father made him get a university degree just in case golf didn’t work out.
Rahm said he was happy to go to Arizona, which was a sunshine-filled place, the opposite of his rainy hometown. That said, he didn’t know any English when he arrived and he revealed that the first several months were very difficult and he constantly felt like he was missing out, he told Today’s Golfer. Rahm graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in communications.
5. Jon Rahm’s Father Spoke About How Proud He Was to See His Son Grow Up & Said He Always Strives to Improve
It’s safe to say that Edorta Rahm is very proud of his son and Andalucia Golf reported that during their interview, he easily spoke about his son’s accomplishments and shared many anecdotes.
Rahm’s father also addressed criticisms about his son’s bad temper and he said the golfer has always been very competitive. He recalled instances when his son played soccer as a goalkeeper and would storm off the pitch if his team was playing badly and caused a goal.
But he said his son has really matured since then and he’s always happy to hear his son speaking about his wife and kids. “He has matured a lot, and every day that passes even more so,” Edorta Rahm shared. “I’m amazed when I read what he says (about family life) and think, ‘what have we created!’, in the sense that it seems incredible to me.”
Rahm’s father said his son always wants to accomplish and win more. “I tell him, ‘Next year, achieving half of what you have done this year would be amazing,'” he told his son, according to an interview with Andalucia Golf. “And he says yes, but he’s not satisfied… He is clear that next year he wants to win another major, that’s his goal, even bearing in mind how difficult it is to win a major, because they are the 150 best players in the world.”