Jon Rahm knows perfection not necessary for major success as he defends US Open

Jon Rahm got the defence of his US Open title under way on Thursday with a reminder that perfection is not necessary for major success.

Rahm birdied the final two holes at Torrey Pines last year to snatch victory by a single shot from Louis Oosthuizen, but the Ryder Cup star learnt recently that his closing 67 may not have been quite as good as he thought it was.

“It’s easy to think you need to be playing perfect golf,” Rahm recalled before teeing off at Brookline at 0718 local time (1218BST) alongside Open champion Collin Morikawa and 2021 US Amateur winner James Piot.

“I remember watching my highlights of Sunday last year, and I thought I played one of the best rounds of my life, and I kept thinking I cannot believe how many fairway bunkers I hit that day, how many greens I missed and how many putts I missed.

“You know, it’s golf, and that’s how it is. You truly don’t have to play perfect, and that’s I think the best lesson I can take from that.

“There’s no extra pressure (as defending champion). It’s pretty much the same as it’s always been with the different factor being that I’ve already won a major so I feel like a lot of the pressure I used to put on myself is not really there.

“I feel like I can enjoy it a little bit more and know that you don’t need to do anything special to get it done.”

Rory McIlroy has been made favourite to win his first major title since 2014 on the back of his RBC Canadian Open victory on Sunday, but most eyes will be on Phil Mickelson as he celebrates his 52nd birthday during Thursday’s first round. Mickelson has become the figurehead of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series which is causing a split in the game and the reaction of the vocal Boston fans will be fascinating.

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