“Golfing Is a Minority Sport”: Jon Rahm’s Stardom Overshadowed by F1 Megastar as Major F1- Golf Debate Sparks Off

Spain undoubtedly produces some of the finest talents in sports. Be it golf, tennis, Formula 1, Moto GP, or soccer among the rest of the sports, the country always makes its mark. But this time the country is divided over whom to support as the Spaniards’ dominance is making headlines in two sports: golf and Formula 1. With Jon Rahm getting ranked 1 in golf, he isn’t getting the support and limelight he possibly deserves.

To this, we’d say, it’s no one’s fault, as the rise of Rahm to the top of the sport coincided with the ever-so-rapid pace of growth of Formula 1 and the local superstar Fernando Alonso! For the people of the country, the two athletes are superstars in their own way. However, Fernando Alonso takes center stage, as the regional popularity of gold remains fairly low when compared to the pinnacle of motorsport. But slowly and surely, Rahm is getting credit for his success. And much like Alonso in the 2000s, many expect him to bring about a change.

On the podcast, F1 Nation, the difference between the two sports was discussed, as well as how Jon and Fernando are the two superstars of Spain. On the record, Tom Clarkson said, “You got Fernando Alonso and Jon Rahm. That’s the two big sporting mega stars in Spain now.”

Former Mclaren star Pedro de la Rosa intervened, “Well, Jon is as well very big. Golfing is a minority sport so far and we will need of many years of Jon Rahm domination really to make it more popular. But yes, it is a huge asset for the Spanish sports. However, motor racing is still ahead, and it’s just impressive how big it’s getting in Spain right now.”

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The comparison by itself is very different. The sport of golf is by no means small in Spain, with 1.2 million registered golfers, and is rising globally, thanks to its own version of “Drive to Survive”–”Full Swing”. While the audience numbers for both sports are different, the overall available numbers do put things into perspective. F1 boasted 14,301,182 potential Spanish impressions during the 2021 season opener. Also, 400,000 Spanish viewers of the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix, and a total of 108.7 million viewers of the grand finale. Whereas, the Athletic quotes: “final round of the Masters on Sunday averaged 12.058 million viewers, making it the most-watched golf telecast on any network in five years” from the Masters, which was won by Rahm.

How much money did Jon Rahm bag at the Masters? 

On April 9, Jon Rahm defeated Brooks Koepka to win the 2023 Masters Tournament, earning his first green jacket. It was also his second major championship, as he became only the fourth Spaniard to do so.

As per Fox, out of the $18 million pool, he will receive about $3.24 million as the Masters champion. It’s the most any Masters champion has ever received for winning the competition. With four tournament wins this year, the total earnings of Rahm as per CBS currently stand at $13,623,540.

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Becoming one of the greatest golfers in Spain, he has brought immense light to the sport in his country. With his continued success, he can surely put himself on the list of the best to come out of Spain.