JON RAHM has revealed the secrets to Masters glory – think like a goldfish and get a Spanish passport!

Rahm romped to a four shot victory at Augusta on what would have been the 66th birthday of his golfing hero, Seve Ballesteros, becoming the fourth Spanish golfer to pull on the coveted green jacket.

And the man who used to have such an explosive temper that he recruited a bomb disposal expert to help put a lid on it, explained why he was calmness personified as he saw off LIV rebels Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.

Rahm, 28, said he bought into the notion put forward on American comedy series Ted Lasso – a football coach who tells his team goldfish only have ten second memories, and they have to forget about any mistakes just as quickly.

Rahm grinned: “I love the Ted Lasso goldfish philosophy, and as someone who used to be very temperamental and often very angry on the course I find it very soothing.

“Of course, getting married and becoming a dad twice over has also helped with that. And I have been given some good advice along the way.”

One of the men who helped Rahm conquer his anger issues was his long-time mental coach Joseba del Carmen, a former bomb disposal genius.

Rahm’s blissful home life with college sweetheart Kelley and young sons Kepa and Eneko boosted the transformation, and they were there to greet him at the 18th green – along with his parents – as he holed the final putt.

It was a second Major title for Rahm, following his 2021 US Open victory, and as well as reclaiming the world No 1 spot he banked a cool £2.6million.

And he was delighted to have rounded off in the swashbuckling style double Masters champion Ballesteros was famous for, before he died of brain cancer in 2011, aged just 54.

Rahm carved his final drive into the trees and it dropped down barely a hundred yards from the tree. He then laid up well short of the green, clipped a wedge to four feet, and sank the putt!

He grinned: “To finish it off the way I did – with an unusual par, very much a Seve par, in a way it was a testament to him. I know he was pulling for me today, and it was a great Sunday.

“To win on his birthday, 40 years after his second win, it meant so much to me.

“Pretty much every great-name Spanish player has won here – Seve, of course, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergo Garcia, and it is an honour to join that group.

“There’s got to be something here about having a Spanish passport, I don’t know, there’s something about the grounds that transmits into all of us.

“And the support I got was pretty incredible all throughout. I kept hearing, ‘Seve! Seve! Seve! Do it for Seve!’ I heard that the entire back nine.

‘THIS ONE WAS FOR SEVE’

“That might have been the hardest thing to control, the emotion of knowing what it could mean if I were to win on such a significant day.

“So this one was for Seve. He was up there helping, and help he did.”
Olazabal revealed that the significance of a Rahm victory had been a hot topic when they played a practice round with Garcia a couple of days before the tournament began.

Olazabal, who also hugged Rahm on the 18th, wearing his green jacket, explained: “Sergio and I were both saying there could be no better time for Jon to join us as Masters champions than this week.

“Sometimes you just feel that the stars are aligned for something special to happen. This was one of those times.

“Jon is an incredible talent. I first saw that when he was a 14 year boy – I say a boy, but he was already like a man then, much bigger than me, hitting the ball miles, and stacked with muscles. He was a Rahmbo even then!

“I told him on the 18th that this is just the first of many Masters titles for him, and I firmly believe that to be true.”