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Jon Rahm says he'll bolt tournament to be at birth of his son, even at the Masters

February 03, 2021
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Jon Rahm celebrates with his wife, Kelley, with a kiss after winning on the first sudden-death playoff hole against Dustin Johnson during the final round of the BMW Championship.

Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire

In November, Jon Rahm revealed that he and his wife, Kelley, are expecting their first child. The birth is, naturally, an occasion he wouldn’t miss.

Even if that means missing the Masters.

“Before anybody asks, yes, if I’m at Augusta and I’m playing well and she starts getting—you know, starts, I’m flying back,” Rahm said Wednesday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “I would never miss the birth of my first born in a million years, or any born for that matter.”

Of course, he’s hardly alone when it comes to not missing the birth of a child. Phil Mickelson famously carried a beeper with him during the 1999 U.S. Open while his wife, Amy, was pregnant with their first child back home in Arizona. He planned to leave Pinehurst even if it went off during play.

Mickelson lost a memorable duel to Payne Stewart on the final hole of the tournament and made it home in time for the birth of his daughter, Amanda, the next day.

Rahm, who met his now-wife while they were both at Arizona State, got engaged in 2018. The two were married in December 2019 in Rahm's hometown of Bilbao, Spain, had another ceremony in San Diego a couple of months later and currently live in Scottsdale. His wife is due with a boy between mid-March and early April.

The Players Championship is March 11-14, while the Masters is April 8-11.

“I’m going to keep the schedule pretty much I’ve had until the Masters,” Rahm said. “I think [the] second week of March is going to be Week 36, and as my mom has told me—because she’s a midwife—many times, starting that week it can come any day. So that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ve talked about it before and we’ve talked about it with her. No matter where I am and what I’m doing, if the phone rings I’m flying back, and I’m going back home to be there for the birth of my son.”