Jon Rahm of Spain hugs the Race to Dubai trophy after he won the golf tournament in Dubai, United ... [+]
ASSOCIATED PRESSFor most of 2019, the conversation atop professional golf centered on the blossoming, complicated rivalry between Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, the top two golfers in the world.
Analysts, authors and talking heads spilled and spouted words discussing which one deserved the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award and what meant more, Koepka’s major championship victories or McIlroy’s consistent excellence. Twitterites debated the merit of golf’s self-proclaimed “fifth major,” the Players, which McIlroy won last March.
The brash and bold Koepka, on record as caring solely for the four tournaments that comprise golf’s Grand Slam, poked the embers with comments directed toward his rival, whose most recent major title came in 2014. McIlroy responded with class, as usual, and avoided adding fuel despite defeating Koepka head-to-head to claim the FedEx Cup title in September in Atlanta.[1][2][3]
Meanwhile, from mid-June until early October, Jon Rahm played golf as well as anyone in the world. He won three times, finished top 11 in the two major championships and returned to the top five in the world ranking[4].
Then he took six weeks off.
The layoff was worth $5 million Sunday as he birdied the 18th hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates Earth Course to win the DP World Tour Championship by one shot over Tommy Fleetwood and claim the Race to Dubai season title.
“It was a risk,” Rahm said, surrounded by trophies. “Truthfully I thought I was going to come in fifth or sixth place, needing a win to win it all, and luckily I was in third with more possibilities.
“But I never regretted it, and I'm glad I did it because I came here much more calm and on a much better frame of mind, very relaxed, very rested, both mentally and physically, and I think that showed this week. Towards the end, I had the energy to keep going, keep fighting, and I think I attribute that to me being able to win.”
Rahm won for the sixth time in 40 starts on the European Tour, faster than any other golfer. He’s racked up top-25 finishes in the United States at a rate second only to Tiger Woods[5]. The 25-year-old climbed to third in the official world ranking, and became only the second Spaniard to win the Race to Dubai, joining the legend Seve Ballesteros.
By any measure, Rahm had a phenomenal year.
The fiery Spaniard missed the cut in the PGA Championship, but finished top 11 in the other three major championships. Around the world in 2019, Rahm posted 16 top-10 finishes in 24 tournaments. Beginning with a tie for third at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June, the Spaniard finished in the top 3 in seven of his final 12 events of the year, winning in Ireland, Spain and Dubai.
He finished 12th in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour, earned more than $16 million in official earnings in the United States and has averaged $198,000 per start in Europe. He’s a major piece of TaylorMade’s heavyweight staff and his combination of power, touch and final-round finishing ability means no one should be surprised if he ascends to the top spot in professional golf and wins his first major championship in 2002, perhaps at the Masters where he finished ninth last year.
It will not be an entirely unfamiliar position. Rahm was No. 1 in the World Amateur Rankings for 60 weeks before he turned pro after the U.S. Open in 2016.
Asked during the press conference to reveal his goals for his career and 2020, Rahm skirted the question, praised Koepka and McIlroy’s excellence and pointed toward his upcoming marriage to fiance Kelley Cahill.
“You know, I haven't thought about it yet. I have one more tournament to play in a couple weeks, and I'm getting married shortly after that. That's the only thing I have in mind, being able to tie the knot with Kelley, it's as simple as that,” Rahm said. “After that, I'll think about golf. I could say win majors, this, Ryder Cup, that, but truthfully I only have my mind on in a couple weeks from now in a tournament, and luckily what I have to do shortly after, which is get married.”
Koepka (11.151 OWGR points) and McIlroy (10.016) have a comfortable margin over Rahm (8.219) after Sunday’s results. Koepka is injured, nursing a knee injury that will prohibit from representing the United States in the President’s Cup next month. McIlroy could surpass Koepka in the coming months, depending on how much he plays.
Rahm isn’t going away. Like any competitive young pro, he’s learning how to better manage his emotions, avoiding the outbursts that once cost him opportunities to win. It’s a work in process, no different than every other aspect of golf. The gap between his mental strength and physical strength is closing, giving the conversation a third party who appears destined to hang near the top for the next decade and ascend there sooner, rather than later.
References
- ^ poked the embers with comments directed toward his rival, (news.yahoo.com)
- ^ McIlroy responded with class (www.golf.com)
- ^ defeating Koepka head-to-head to claim the FedEx Cup title in September in Atlanta. (www.forbes.com)
- ^ returned to the top five in the world ranking (www.owgr.com)
- ^ He’s racked up top-25 finishes in the United States at a rate second only to Tiger Woods (fivethirtyeight.com)
No comments: