It was an exciting weekend for golf fans as the Scottish Open, Evian Championship, and LIV Golf Andalucia all took place.
The latter was held at the iconic Real Club Valderrama in southern Spain, where Talor Gooch lifted the individual title.
Gooch finished the tournament at -8 after three consecutive under-par rounds to win his fourth LIV event and second in Andalucia.
However, Caleb Surratt compared a different player to Tiger Woods after the final round concluded on Sunday.
Photo by Zhe Ji/Getty ImagesCaleb Surratt compares playing with Jon Rahm to Tiger Woods
While Talor Gooch clearly performed the best at LIV Golf Andalucia, Jon Rahm was not far behind. He finished just one stroke back on seven under par.
Rahm is arguably the biggest name on the LIV circuit anyway, and especially in his home country, the crowd was fully behind him.
Surratt played alongside the Spaniard in the opening round at Valderrama, and described it as similar to “the Tiger effect.”
He told reporters: “Yeah, it wasn’t something I had thought too much about until I had played well in round 1 and Jon and I were paired together.
“That almost felt like a little bit of the Tiger effect playing with Jon in Spain a little bit. Jon holes out, all the masses go, so that rattled me a little bit.
“Yeah, that was probably the first time I had experienced that, but I just can’t help but think about that putt on 18.
“I had a perfect view from right behind the hole, and it was just what champions do, and it’s super motivating and something I want to be doing one day.”
Photo By Joaquin Corchero/Europa Press via Getty Images
Sometimes, home advantage can actually become a disadvantage because playing in front of your biggest supporters brings added pressure.
Even though he ultimately came up short, this was not an issue for Rahm at LIV Golf Andalucia, as he put in an excellent performance to climb the leaderboard on Sunday.
After his five-under-par final round at Valderrama, Rahm was asked whether the crowd inspired him to play well.
“It’s uplifting, 100 percent,” he said. “Sort of being in the group with Talor and having the crowd be in my favor, being the group in front and having enough people for him to hear what’s going on, I think it’s a massive bonus, yeah.
“The only thing that could be any negative is the commitments before the tournament starts. Once the golf starts, it’s all positive.”
