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Jon Rahm celebrates on the 18th green after winning the 2023 Masters.
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Jon Rahm’s winning margin at the Masters of four shots suggested 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 larger if it wasn’t for a contribution from a Super Bowl winning tight end.
Despite being the embodiment of consistency in Sunday’s final round to claim his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National, Rahm’s eventual title charge couldn’t have got off to a worse start.
On the first hole of his opening round, Rahm had some uncharacteristic struggles as he four-putted for a double bogey on the first hole’s undulating green.
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Jon Rahm poses with the Masters trophy during the green jacket ceremony, after winning the Masters tournament on Sunday, April 9.
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Rahm celebrates his win on the 18th green.
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Patrick Cantlay hits his putt on the 15th green during the final round on Sunday.
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Mickelson reacts on the 18th green during the final round.
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Viktor Hovland putts on the fifth green during the final round.
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Brooks Koepka plays his shot from the eighth tee during the continuation of the weather-delayed third round on Sunday.
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The scoreboard is changed after Tiger Woods withdrew from competition on Sunday.
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Sam Bennett watches his putt on the 12th green during the third round on Sunday.
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Patrick Cantlay tees up during the third round Sunday.
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Tiger Woods walks the 18th green during the second round on Saturday, April 8.
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A spectator watches play on the 12th hole in the rain on Saturday.
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Fred Couples waves to patrons after finishing his second round on Saturday. Couples made history as the
oldest player to make the cut at the Masters.
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Groundskeepers remove standing water on green during the continuation of the weather-delayed second round on Saturday.
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Patrick Cantlay plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole on Saturday.
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A security guard moves people away from trees that blew over on the 17th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club on Friday. No injuries were reported.
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Brooks Koepka tees off on the 10th hole Friday. He is 12 under par heading into the weekend.
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Jason Day and William Kane, caddie for Gordon Sargent, read the first green on Friday.
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Woods tees off on the eighth hole Friday.
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Amateur Sam Bennett plays a shot on the second hole Friday. He shot 68s on both Thursday and Friday.
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Jon Rahm plays out from the bunker on the second hole Friday.
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Billy Horschel reacts to a shot on the second hole Friday.
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Viktor Hovland chips onto the 10th green Thursday. The Norwegian shot a 7-under 65 and shared the first-round lead with Koepka and Rahm.
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Patrick Reed's caddie, Kessler Karain, helps Reed line up a putt on the 13th hole Thursday.
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Woods grimaces on the fourth tee Thursday. The five-time Masters champion said his surgically repaired right leg felt sore Thursday and that the pain is "constant."
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Phil Mickelson hits a shot on the second hole Thursday.
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Adam Scott plays a bunker shot on the second hole Thursday.
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Pins adorn a spectator's hat on Thursday.
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Defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on the seventh hole Thursday.
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Sergio Garcia fishes his ball out of the creek on No. 13.
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A worker updates one of the leaderboards Thursday at Augusta National.
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Koepka hits his tee shot on the 14th hole Thursday.
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Hideki Matsuyama, who won the tournament two years ago, looks over a putt on the second hole.
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Rahm and his caddie, Adam Hayes, are seen on the third green Thursday.
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Golf legend Jack Nicklaus hits a ceremonial tee shot before the start of the first round. He was joined by Gary Player and Tom Watson.
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Rory McIlroy signs autographs after competing in the traditional par 3 contest that is held the day before the start of the tournament.
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Min Woo Lee walks to the 15th green during a practice round Wednesday.
Although he was able to recover over the course of the weekend and eventually claim his maiden Masters title, Rahm joked afterward that some text messages from Super Bowl winning tight end Zach Ertz jinxed his abilities on the opening hole.
“For those people who believe in jinxing other players, people or whatever it may be, Thursday morning when I was getting on my golf cart to get to this putting green. Ten minutes before my tee time, I saw a text from a good friend of mine,” Rahm, dressed in his newly acquired green jacket, explained to reporters.
“I’m going to name him because he is a Super Bowl winning champion – Zach Ertz – he sent the text: ‘That first green looking like a walk in the park,’ 10 minutes before I four-putted the start of the tournament.”
With a smile, Rahm continued: “So, thank you Zach, don’t ever do that again please.”
Ertz – who won Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles and now plays for the Arizona Cardinals – acknowledged the texts and said he had no regrets.
“I apologize for absolutely nothing!” he tweeted. “You can expect these texts every major going forward my friend! Congratulations!”
Ertz’s former Cardinals teammate JJ Watt, who retired at the end of the 2022 season, tweeted out screenshots of messages sent to a group chat called “Birdies and Babies” which included Rahm, Ertz and Watt which seemed to corroborate Rahm’s story with the caption: “Can confirm. I think this means you deserve a green jacket (Ertz).”
Ertz text the group saying “Let’s have a day Jon!! Start fast!!” to which Watt replied: “Let’s go Jon!!! Pretend you’re playing with Zach and I. You’ll set the course record!”
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Ertz plays against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, October 2, 2022.
He followed up with: “First hole green looks like a walk in the park.”
Watt also included a screenshot of a private text message exchange with Ertz. The tight end said: “4 putt to start the round… not ideal.” Watt replied: “Horrendous. I said pretend you’re playing WITH us not like your playing LIKE us,” which Ertz responded with a pair of laughing emojis.
Despite the opening hole double bogey, Rahm wasn’t hampered for long, grabbing birdies on the following two holes as he shot an impressive seven-under opening-round 65.
And he continued his steady rise up the leaderboard over the course of a disrupted four days, showing exemplary consistency to win the 2023 Masters.