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Jon Rahm is one of the hottest golfers on tour and coming off of a big win in the U.S. Open,. Despite being a top 10 player in the world, he has always faced questions about his shortened backswing.
Well, now we know why Rahm has such a compact swing and it dates back to his birth.
While speaking to reporters at Royal St. George’s ahead of the British Open which begins on Thursday, Rahm revealed that his short swing is due to adjustments that were made as an infant when he was born with a clubbed right foot.
The 26-year-old Spaniard revealed he was born with his ankle turned at a 90-degree angle to the left and doctors broke all of the bones in order to place his ankle in its natural position.
“I’m tired of hearing that the reason why I have a short swing is that I have tight hips or other things,” Rahm said, as transcribed by ESPN.com. “If you know anything about golf, that is the stupidest thing to say. So, for people that don’t know, I was born with a club foot on my right leg, which means for anybody that’s sensitive about that, my right leg up to the ankle was straight, my foot was 90 degrees turned inside and basically upside down.
“So, when I was born, they basically relocated, pretty much broke every bone in the ankle and I was casted within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down. I think every week I had to go back to the hospital to get re-casted, so from knee down my leg didn’t grow at the same rate. So, I have very limited ankle mobility in my right leg. It’s a centimeter and a half shorter, as well.
“What I mean by limitations is I didn’t take a full swing because my right ankle doesn’t have the mobility or stability to take it. So, I learned at a very young age that I’m going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing. If I take a full to parallel, it might create more speed, but I have no stability. My ankle just can’t take it. The main thing is my right foot. It’s just that ankle does not move much.”
Rahm, who is now ranked No. 1 in the world after winning the U.S. Open, will hit the course on Thursday looking for another win at 4:58 a.m. ET. Rahm will be paired with Louis Oosthuizen and defending Open champion Shane Lowry.
