Jon Rahm wouldn’t have meant to twist the knife. But his latest reflection on the Ryder Cup would most likely bring back painful memories for Tiger Woods. Reflecting on his debut at the biennial event, the Spaniard called it his “most tense and special moment.” What makes this moment special is Tiger Woods, the man who has been the face of golf for many fans for several years.

Rahm is back home playing for a record fourth Spanish Open title after what he calls “the chaos” of Europe’s win in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, New York. Since it had been only weeks after the historic away win, questions about the biennial event were natural. But when asked about his most special moment in Ryder Cup events, Rahm mentioned a moment from the very beginning of the journey.

Reflecting on the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, Rahm said, “The Ryder Cup, my most tense and special moment was that first point against Tiger.”

It was in 2018 that the European Ryder Cup star made his debut. A debut in the most chaotic and emotional tournament in golf is pretty intense in itself. To make things worse for Rahm, he was matched against Tiger Woods in the singles. But who would have known that the debutant would hold his nerve and defeat the 15x major winner?

He didn’t even let Tiger finish the course by defeating him at the 17th green. He hit an iron shot to close range and a birdie to seal victory with a score of 2-1. What makes this even worse for Woods is that this was his comeback to the Ryder Cup after his last appearance in 2012, but he ended up with an unwanted record, a 0-4 finish.

This wasn’t even the first time. In 2017, Tiger was making his comeback to professional golf. However, his return to the PGA Tour was cut short with a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open. He completed the first two rounds at 76-72. The person who won the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open was none other than Jon Rahm. The Spaniard put up a 13 under par score with rounds of 72-69-69-65 to defeat Charles Howell III and C.T. Pan, who tied in second.

While this was Rahm’s special Ryder Cup moment, 2025’s biennial event was the toughest and most fun. He said, “The way we approached it as a team, how we came together, and even then, how difficult it was going to be mentally with the crowd. It was hostile, at times unbelievable, just non-stop from the moment you arrived until the moment you left again.”

He is talking about the comments from the crowd.

This is a developing story…