Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm BLACKED OUT in Champions Dinner as golf ace says ‘I have no idea what I said’
JON RAHM has revealed he was so nervous he “blacked out” during his Champions Dinner earlier this week.
It is tradition for the reigning Masters champion to host a dinner for all the past winners of the major championship.
The Spaniard had an Iberian-themed menu at his dinner including tapas and pintxos and his grandmother “Mama Rahm’s Classic Lentil Stew” made by chef Jose Andres.
Despite having the comfort of his own cuisine, the 29-year-old revealed he still felt the pressure to deliver his speech at the dinner.
Rahm told CBS: “I haven’t heard feedback. I was so nervous I think I blacked out for a second, so I have no idea what I said.”
The tradition of the Masters dinner goes back to 1952 when defending champion Ben Hogan decided to host a dinner and call it the “stag party” of past Masters winners.
The dinner that year was steak and potatoes but winners now tend to pick a menu that reflects their roots.
It is the most exclusive dinner in gold with fans keen to know what gets underway inside the club of green jacket holders.
But even though he was nervous Rahm downplayed the hype of the event.
He continued: “I got there a little bit early because I wanted to get comfortable with the situation.
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“It’s hard to know what to expect. It’s essentially just a bunch of normal men hanging out. As simple as it is.”
Rahm’s dinner fell on the date of what would have been Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros’s 67th birthday.
Ballesteros was the first Spaniard to wear the Green Jacket with Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Rahm following in his footsteps.
He died of a brain tumour in 2011 at the age of 54.
Rahm said: “I think the whole highlight of the whole dinner was at the end, some of those great players telling stories.
“With it being Seve’s birthday, most of them were Seve stories. Ole did his part, Sergio, Bernhard Langer and others. It was pretty incredible to be part of that.”
Rahm’s Masters victory last year was on Ballesteros’s birthday and 40th anniversary of his second Masters triumph in 1983.