Jon Rahm made headlines several weeks ago when he told reporters at the BMW Championship that the key to good golf is to “be like a goldfish.” His aquatic simile was a nod to the popular TV show Ted Lasso in which the title character tells one of his players that the key to success in sports is to emulate a goldfish.
“Y’know what the happiest animal on Earth is?” he says in the clip. “It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a ten-second memory.”
Rahm took that advice to heart and said he was trying to apply that principle to his own golf game. When asked who on the PGA Tour is most like a goldfish, Rahm didn’t have to think about his reply.
“Without a doubt Dustin Johnson,” Rahm said. “He has the ability to forget unfortunate moments better than anyone else.”
But as it turns out, Johnson also has the knack for forgetting the good on the golf course as well. In this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, DJ’s caddie and brother, Austin, shared that his guy had no idea where he stood on the leaderboard at last fall’s Masters, even as they walked up the 18th fairway.
“After he hit his second shot up onto the 18th green, he gave me his club and looked at me and goes, ‘How do we stand?’” Austin said. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘In the tournament, how do we stand?’”
Austin looked at his brother in disbelief and told him they had a five-shot lead and one arm in the green jacket. He added that they were so far ahead he could get a 15-handicap into Butler Cabin at that point.
Be like a goldfish, indeed.
Check out the entire episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon below.