Jon Rahm walked off Marco Simone with a line on his record that few in the game can match. In the foursomes format — alternate shot, the most exposed and least forgiving version of team golf — the Spaniard remains unbeaten. Six matches, six points, no defeats. In Rome he stretched that run, and he did it in the shadow of the world's best player.
How Rome unfolded
The tone was set on Friday morning. Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton clinched the opening point of the Ryder Cup for Europe with a dominant 4 and 3 foursomes victory over Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Rahm supplied the sharp edges. He curled in a birdie putt from the fringe to put the hosts ahead on the third hole, chipped in for par on the 10th, then drove the green on the par-four 11th as the European duo turned the screw. Rahm and Hatton were six under par through their 15 holes in the alternate-shot format, giving Europe a dream start.
Saturday brought the sterner test. Against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, the match tightened late. Cantlay and Schauffele were down three after 11 before winning each of the next three holes to level things. Rahm answered where it mattered. He came within inches of a hole-in-one on the 17th to set up a birdie putt to win the match, 2&1. Two foursomes starts in Rome, two points, both against the American core.
The Scheffler thread ran through the week. Rahm faced Scheffler in three of his four matches in Rome and was unbeaten against the world No.1, winning the first foursomes clash on Friday before they fought out a pair of ties, including in Sunday's singles. The final-day meeting, first out for both sides, ended in a tie between the two most recent Masters champions.
A record built over years
The perfect foursomes line did not arrive by accident. Rahm has carried it across partners and continents. In 2021 at Whistling Straits, in a losing European cause, he was the standout, pairing with Sergio Garcia. In Rome he found a new partner in Hatton, and the alliance held. His flawless 6-0-0 career record in the alternate-shot format makes him one of the most reliable foursomes players the contest has known.
It fits a career of firsts. The first Spaniard to reach World No.1 since Seve Ballesteros. The first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open, sealed with birdies on the last two holes at Torrey Pines. A green jacket at Augusta. And, from his 2018 debut, a Sunday singles win over Tiger Woods. Rome added a quieter distinction, less headline than habit.
Some players chase moments. Jon Rahm, in foursomes, simply refuses to lose.
