Jon Rahm says Super Bowl winner Zach Ertz is frustrated after a poor start to the victorious Masters campaign

CNN
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John Rahm’s winning margin at the Masters by four shots suggests he had everything his own way over the weekend.

But the gap between the Spaniard and his closest rivals, LIV Golf Series duo Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, might have been even greater if it weren’t for the contribution of his narrow Super Bowl championship.

Despite being the epitome of consistency going into Sunday’s final round to claim his first green jacket and second career major at the Augusta National, the Ram’s eventual start couldn’t have been worse.

On the first hole of his opening round, Ram had some uncharacteristic struggles as he putt four into a double-bogey on the undulating green for the first hole.

Although he was able to recover over the weekend and eventually claim the Masters title, Ram joked afterward that some text messages from Super Bowl winning tight end Zach Ertz had dampened his opening hole abilities.

“For those people who believe in sexing other players, people or whatever, Thursday morning as I was riding in my golf cart to get to this green. Ten minutes before game time, I saw a text from a dear friend of mine,” Ram, Wearing his newly acquired green jacket, he explained to reporters.

“I’m going to name him because the Super Bowl champion — Zach Ertz — texted: ‘That first green looks like a walk in the park,’ 10 minutes before the tournament kicks off, four minutes in.”

And Ram continued with a smile, “Well, thank you Zack, don’t do that again please.”

Ertz — who won Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles and now plays for the Arizona Cardinals — acknowledged the scripts and said he has no regrets.

“I apologize for absolutely nothing!” he chirp. “You can expect these texts every major going forward my friend! Congratulations!”

Former Cardinals teammate Ertz JJ Watt, who retired at the end of the 2022 season, tweet it out Screenshots of messages sent to a group chat called “Birdies and Babies” that featured Rahm, Ertz, and Watt appeared to support Ram’s story with the comment: “Can I confirm. I guess that means you deserve a green (Ertz) jacket.”

Ertz texted the group saying “Let’s have a day John!! Go fast!!” To which Watt replied: “Let’s go John!!! Suppose you play with Zack and me. You’re going to hit the course record!”

He continued, “The first green hole feels like a walk in the park.”

Watt also included a screenshot of a private text message exchange with Ertz. “4 strokes to start the round…not ideal,” said the tight end. Watt replied: Awful. I said pretend you’re playing with us not like you’re playing like us,” to which Ertz responded with a pair of laughing emojis.

Despite the double-bogey of the opening hole, Ram was not hampered for long, catching birdies in the next two holes when he fired a terrific seven-under opening round 65.

He continued his steady rise up the leaderboard over the course of four days off, showing perfect consistency to win the 2023 Masters Tournament.