Supply: Instagram @jonrahm
It will at all times be one of the crucial choose teams in males’s skilled golf. To this point, solely 5 gamers have accomplished the profession Grand Slam—Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Gary Participant. Solely Nicklaus and Woods have received every of the massive 4 on a number of events; each have a minimum of three wins in every, whereas Hogan extremely solely performed in a single Open.
Now
we have now one other participant, Jon Rahm, who’s midway there after his win at Augusta.
Two years in the past, Rahm hadn’t received any majors. Now, he has two of them, and, at
simply 28, the Spaniard is perhaps the brand new favorite to tick this off.
Brooks Koepka, who led for every of the primary three rounds on the 2023 Masters, nonetheless wants the Masters and the Open to finish the set—however the excellent news for him is that his recreation is completely suited to each, and his physique (and knees) are again in higher form.
Jordan
Spieth, who bizarrely nonetheless solely has one Inexperienced Jacket, is a PGA shy of the massive
4 and, as we frequently say on the finish of a Masters event, seems to have
his juju again with the PGA arising. Collin Morikawa is even youthful than Rahm
and has two of them, whereas McIlroy… effectively, everyone knows what he wants, and the
year-long wait begins once more for him.
Phil Mickelson, one in all Rahm’s nice pals, started Masters week not saying very a lot on the Champions Dinner earlier than signing off with a 65 and, for a short time, threatening to land a fourth Inexperienced Jacket. The 52-year-old stays eligible for the US Open, the key he’s lacking, after his spectacular win at Kiawah Island in 2021.
“I imply, it will be superb. It might be nice. Not many individuals have been capable of do it, and to have the ability to end it out and full the Grand Slam can be completely superb,” mentioned Rahm.
“I
entered the race after I received the US Open, however after all, you’re so far-off, you
don’t wish to give it some thought. However as gamers, it’s in your thoughts. In fact, it’s
in your thoughts. It’s one thing else that will be superb. However it’s an extended highway
forward to have the ability to accomplish that.”
That is what we do in skilled golf, with a big slant of our pondering primarily based on recency bias and what’s gone on in the latest event. However, you’d be hard-pressed to not now single Rahm out. Amongst all of the climate delays, fallen timber, Rory lacking the minimize, Tiger having to withdraw, and the incessant backdrop of LIV Golf, Augusta as soon as once more threw up a massively spectacular winner.
The Ballesteros legacy
On the fortieth anniversary of Seve Ballesteros’ second Masters win and on what would have been his 66th birthday, one other Spaniard, Rahm, took the spoils. There to greet him, amongst his large entourage of crew, household and pals, was Seve’s nice buddy and Ryder Cup companion, José María Olazábal.
“We
each talked about one thing about Seve, and if he had given us ten extra seconds, I
suppose we’d have each ended up crying. I prefer to see historical past repeating
itself as a result of when Ollie received his second Masters in ’99, Sergio (Garcia) was
the low-am.
“It was his first begin there, and my first begin was the 12 months Sergio received. I suppose Spaniards identical to profitable on Easter Sunday and on Seve’s birthday. He mentioned he hopes it’s the primary of many extra,” defined Rahm.
Then
there was the celebrity novice, Sam Bennett; bear in mind him? He by some means performed
his means into the ultimate threeball on the Saturday and was nonetheless planning on
enjoying in a 36-hole novice occasion the day after Augusta. In the long run, he didn’t
play.
Going
into Masters week, most of us merely knew his identify and a little bit of his again story—he
misplaced his Dad to Alzheimer’s in 2021, and right here he was teeing it up with Rahm and
Koepka and making modest claims that he may truly win the factor. On his
left forearm have been the final phrases that his dad was ever capable of write: ‘Don’t
wait to do one thing – Pops’. He actually didn’t.
The Masters won’t be to everybody’s style (see the Par 3 Contest for particulars), however for leisure, it’s one thing else. Rahm started his week by four-putting the primary inexperienced; he ended it by having to hit a provisional on the 72nd gap. In between, he was the epitome of calm—‘What’s going on on the surface isn’t at all times a mirrored image of the within’—and he held issues collectively brilliantly.
He
was within the high 4 for driving accuracy and greens in regulation. He gained
greater than 3.5 strokes on the sphere tee to inexperienced on the Sunday, his ball
putting coming by simply when he wanted it most.
Koepka
was beforehand 3/3 when he led or shared the lead in a serious, however Rahm matched
him each step.
“I can’t anticipate Brooks to play badly, so I have to deliver the battle to him. The aim was to maintain giving him one thing to take a look at, that means, if I hit shot, only for him to see that I’ve a birdie likelihood however hold placing the ball within the fairway and hold making good swings for him to really feel extra of the strain somewhat than me, proper. Me being the one pushing.”
An enormous a part of the jigsaw is the way in which that Rahm research the sport. He watches a whole lot of golf, he is aware of loads about golf, and he’ll choose the suitable brains. The likes of a number of champs Mickelson and Olazábal have advised him a lot about Augusta, however 9 holes with Tony Finau in follow additionally performed their half within the win.
He requested the American about when he and Francesco Molinari each hit their photographs within the water on the twelfth when Tiger received again in 2019.
“He
mentioned, ‘Yeah, it was shot—it was only a yard too far proper and spun in
the water.’ Then he talked about Tiger’s shot went left of the bunker to that
Sunday pin.”
Rahm
did simply that, enjoying the twelfth in a single underneath for the week. Someday, within the
not-too-distant future, Rahm may effectively be a part of that elite membership that Woods is an element
of.
The PGA Championship takes place at Oak Hill from Could 18. Two down, two to go.
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