John Rahm is one of the best professional golfers currently playing today. The 29-year-old, who won his first Masters last April, is an exceptional athletic talent. He is not the only member of his family to be an impressive athlete, however. While his wife Kelley Cahill is not playing sports professionally, she was involved in athletics when the pair first met and continues to be active as they raise the two children they have together. Read on to learn more about Cahill and how her love story with Rahm began.
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When did John Rahm and Kelley Cahill meet?
Rahm, who hails from Biscay, Spain, met Cahill, who is from Lake Oswego, Oregon, when they were both attending Arizona State University. Though it’s not known exactly when the pair began dating, an Instagram photo posted by Rahm reveals that they were together at least as far back as February of 2016.
In an interview with Golf Digest, the 29-year-old said that even he and his now-wife can’t agree on when they went out romantically for the first time. He did explain that he was quite poor when they started seeing each other, however.
“I had no money. I was living on a couple hundred bucks a month at most, so I had a budget,” he said. “We used to go to this place called Zendejas because she loved their margaritas and we both loved food, and it wasn’t expensive. But we have some disagreement about this—we don’t know if that was our first official date, or if it was at a football game.”
Rahm was attending ASU on a golf scholarship and was quite the player during his college days. He won 11 college golf tournaments, the second-most by anyone in the school’s history. Only the great golfer Phil Mickelson, also an alum, had more, with 16 wins. In 2015, Rahm was ranked No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and he would top that list for a record 60 weeks. He turned pro in 2016.
In 2020, Rahm was ranked at No. 1 on the list of the world’s top golfers. Later that same summer, he won the BMW Championship, besting Dustin Johnson in a playoff. In April of last year, he won his first and maybe last Masters—at the end of 2023 he announced his intention to join LIV Golf, which is an upstart rival to the PGA.
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When Did John Rahm and Kelley Cahill get married?
Rahm proposed to Cahill, now 30, in June 2018, right before he competed in the 2018 U.S. Open. The golfer designed the ring himself, as he explained to Golf.com. He worked with the wife of fellow pro golfer Brian Stuard, Alicia Zuckerman, who is a jeweler.
“So Kelley was talking to [Alicia]. She knew what Kelley wanted, but I had my own ideas,” Rahm said. “Basically, with her help, I designed the ring. She wanted to pick the diamond, but I knew what I wanted. I designed what’s around the ring. It’s supposed to look like a crown and an engraving inside. I had a big part in it. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she loves it. It’s a little more personal like that.”
The pair were married on Dec. 13, 2019, in the church that Rahm grew up going to in his hometown of Bilbao, Spain.
“The Basilica de Begoña is a very special place for me and my family so it was an honor to marry her there,” the golfer wrote on Instagram. “Couldn’t think of a better way to end the year!”
What sports does Kelley Cahill play?
Cahill, unlike Rahm, is not a professional golfer—or any sort of pro athlete, in fact. She was competitive in college, however, and her now-husband said he never even tried to get on her level in her event.
Cahill was a javelin thrower on the ASU track & field team. In that same Golf Digest interview, Rahm said he never attempted to throw a javelin, because of how different the motions are compared to swinging a golf club.
“Oh, God no,” he said when asked. “It’s such a weird motion. You have to rely on overhand strength, and as a golfer, that’s not something I have. She has a lot more overhand strength than I do. And I didn’t want to injure myself.”
The couple pursued some activities together, however—at least until their mutual competitiveness got in the way. Cahill introduced Rahm to tennis, which he had never played before. He had, however, played pelota, a Basque game that’s something of a mix between jai alai and racketball. This experience with a racket sport gave him just enough of an edge that he was able to hold his own against Cahill, who competed in national tournaments in high school.
As she explained to the San Diego Union-Tribute, Cahill was expecting to get to show off a little bit when they first played, but Rahm surprised her with his proficiency.
“He’s killing forehands … crosscourt zingers, and I’m thinking, ‘This can’t be right,’ ” she said to the paper in 2018. “He was so good. I was so upset. I was actually mad for a day or two.”
“She’s obviously a much better player than I am, but it was funny to see,” Rahm said. “She learned a lesson. I’m not a pushover. I like playing sports. Anything related to my hands, I’m good at. She didn’t expect it.”
“We have not stepped foot on a tennis court since,” Cahill added.
As Rahm noted on Instagram, Cahill also has a knack for football.
“Yes she throws a mean spiral!! I better stick to golf,” he wrote in the caption of a video of the couple tossing a ball around.
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Do John Rahm and Kelley Cahill have kids?
Rahm and Cahill have two sons together. Their first, Kepa Cahill Rahm, was born on April 3, 2021. Their second, Eneko Cahill Rahm, arrived on Aug. 5, 2022. Both sons were born just a few days before Rahm was set to compete in a golf tournament—the 2021 Masters Tournament and the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, respectively.
Cahill and the kids are frequently there watching whenever Rahm is playing. After the 2023 Genesis Invitational, he posted a picture of the whole family, writing “Thanks to everyone for the support and loved having my family here to enjoy the ride!”