National Football League

Jon Rahm revealed how Zach Ertz jinxed him before Rahm won The Masters

Updated Apr. 11, 2023 10:14 a.m. ET

Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz jinxed Jon Rahm at the beginning of the 2023 Masters, but that wasn't enough to stop the golfer from winning the tournament.

After winning his first green jacket, Rahm recalled at the ceremony how rough his first hole went. He needed four putts to complete the first hole in the first round, giving him a double bogey that he had to work through. Rahm blamed Ertz for the rough start because of a text message the NFL star sent.

"For those people who believe in jinxing other players, people, whatever it may be, Thursday morning, when I was getting on the golf cart to get to this putting green 10 minutes before my tee time, I saw a text from a good friend of mine," Rahm said. "And I’m going to name him because he’s a Super Bowl-winning champion, Zach Ertz. He sent the text, and I'm going to paraphrase here, but he said, ‘That first green looking like a walk in the park, or something like that, right now’ ten minutes before I four-putted to start the tournament.

"So, thank you, Zach. Don't ever do that again, please."

The text Ertz sent was actually in a group chat between Rahm, Ertz and former superstar pass-rusher J.J. Watt. After Rahm revealed the jinx that Ertz put on him, Watt shared screenshots from the group chat and a separate conversation he had with Ertz following Rahm's disastrous opening hole.

"4 putt to start the round… not ideal," Ertz texted Watt.

"Horrendous," Watt wrote in the first of two texts to Ertz.

"I said pretend you're playing WITH us, not like your playing LIKE us," Watt continued.

Somehow, Rahm managed to shoot a 65 in Thursday's opening round to finish seven under par (-7) and tied atop the leaderboard through Day 1. That was also the last time Rahm struggled on the first hole for the rest of the tournament, as he shot for par on the opening hole in the next three rounds.

Rahm shot two under par (-2) over Rounds 2 and 3, placing him in second entering the final round. He shot a 69 though in Sunday's final round to help him pass Brooks Koepka to win The Masters.

Following Rahm's story at the green jacket ceremony, Ertz implied in a tweet that he'll turn his jinx into a good luck charm for Rahm going forward.

"I apologize for absolutely nothing!" Ertz wrote in a tweet. "You can expect these texts every major going forward my friend! Congratulations!"

Watt also jokingly stuck up for Ertz.

"I think this means you deserve a green jacket," Watt tweeted at Ertz.

Rahm, a Spanish native, graduated from Arizona State and is a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. His win at The Masters was his second title at a major championship, winning the 2021 U.S. Open.

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