NASSAU, BAHAMAS | At Albany Golf Club, where a cool late autumn breeze blew across the property in advance of the Hero World Challenge, it finally feels like the end of another golf season.
There’s a Presidents Cup to be played in faraway Australia next week and there’s been a bit of chatter about the impending flight and what kind of captain Tiger Woods will be, but this boutique event puts a closing time stamp on a long year.
The Hero World Challenge comes with an abundance of world ranking points and enough cash to change most lives but it’s officially an unofficial event, if that makes sense.
Should Woods win (he’s won five of these), it won’t count as the 83rd victory of his PGA Tour career any more than the six-player wedge-shot shootout he won Monday afternoon by hitting shots over a hotel swimming pool to a makeshift green as loud music thumped like a hangover. But a win is a win.
There’s a trophy at stake with a world-class field that includes 11 of the 12 American players heading to Royal Melbourne to play the Presidents Cup.
And Jon Rahm is here.
Rahm is the defending champion, now sits third in the world ranking and arrives having won his past two starts, though they were separated by seven weeks. That’s how good Rahm is these days, good enough to not swing a club for a month, then show up in Dubai and lock down the Race to Dubai title with a victory in the European Tour finale.
Rahm has insisted he is working on his outbursts. It’s a delicate line, balancing the fire inside with the temptation to release frustration.
This week it’s Tiger’s event and next week Rahm is getting married in his native Spain. A big finish to a big year with perhaps bigger things to come.
Rahm has steadily established himself as one of the game’s dominant players, using his blend of power, aggressiveness and fire to put his name in the discussion of the best young players in the game. He’s just 25, has won three times on the PGA Tour and six times on the European Tour, reaching No. 2 in the world ranking for a time early last year. Since the start of 2017, he has finished in the top 10 of 40 events worldwide.
After flashing his immense talent in winning his two most recent starts – the Spanish Open in early October and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai two weeks ago – Rahm got off to a solid start at the Hero tournament by shooting 2-under-par 70 in breezy conditions Wednesday. Among his immediate goals are winning his first major championship and reaching No. 1 in the world, a spot currently occupied by Brooks Koepka with Rory McIlroy pushing him like a tailwind.
“Of course we all want to be No. 1,” Rahm said. “I was really close last year. …
“At the end of the day, wherever you are in the rankings is a consequence of how you play throughout the year. It’s not like I’m constantly focused on where my world ranking is. I’m just trying to play good golf and if I play good golf and win tournaments, I’ll get there at some point.”
With Rahm, the question has been as much about his demeanor as his talent. There have been times, by his own admission, when his fiery temper has worked against him. He blew up in the second round of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, drawing attention in the process.
There have been other moments, and Rahm has insisted he is working on his outbursts. It’s a delicate line, balancing the fire inside with the temptation to release frustration. Rahm is not a finished product which, given his accomplishments to this point, hints at an enormous future.
It was a testament to the state of his game that he was able to win in Spain, spend an extra week there, then fly back to the United States, where he didn’t take the travel cover off his golf bag for almost a month. It was a planned break, but Rahm didn’t spend time reflecting on his year or setting goals for 2020.
“I just forgot that I was a golfer for five weeks and I’m glad I did it,” Rahm said.
When Rahm leaves the Bahamas, he will fly home to Spain where he and his fiancée, Kelley Cahill, will be married in the church Rahm attended while growing up. Two weeks later, he will head to Hawaii to start a new golf year.
For a while now, Rahm said, he’s been dealing with wedding details. There was still work to be done around the golf at Albany. But he’s ready for the big day.
“It’s going to be a Catholic wedding, a church I basically grew up going to with my grandma and it’s a really special place for all the people of the city of Bilbao,” Rahm said. “I think when I see those doors open and see her walking down the aisle for the first time, it’s going to be what I’m looking forward to most.”
Then comes 2020 and a world of possibilities.