Sitting atop the world golf rankings, it’s hard to say Jon Rahm hasn’t yet peaked.
Rahm won the U.S. Open last June at Torrey Pines, almost certainly would have won the Memorial Tournament were it not for an unfortunately timed positive COVID-19 test, had 15 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour (the Memorial would have been a 16th) and he was the brightest light in the European team’s disappointing Ryder Cup.
Yet it feels as if Rahm’s wave is still building.
Think for a moment about the four majors and the Players Championship this year. Is there a player whose chances you like better than Rahm’s to win one or more of those?
Collin Morikawa? He may be the only one in the conversation.
Rahm – who has six PGA Tour wins and captured the award for lowest scoring average last season – just rolls along, as comfortable in who he is and what he does as any player on tour.
But Rahm is a force of nature, who happened to top-10 in every one of those events last year while winning his first major championship the way the great ones do – making birdies on the last two holes and celebrating with a fist pump that could have impressed George Foreman.
Exhausted by a hectic 18-month schedule and feeling the tug to be at an-home father to his new son, Kepa, Rahm took an extended break from competitive golf last fall and all he did upon his return was shoot 33-under par in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, a would-be PGA Tour record had Cameron Smith not outraced him to the moon.
Rust?
No, Rahm.
He’s in the field this week at the American Express tournament in Palm Springs, California, and then it’s onto the Farmers Insurance Championship at Torrey Pines, Rahm’s happy place.
“All he really cares about is winning. He doesn’t like second place or fourth place,” says Adam Hayes, Rahm’s caddie.
“If he doesn’t succeed he still finishes right up there. He’s always had that. I would expect him to get even better in big moments.”
For the longest time, Dustin Johnson was the game’s dominant force. Brooks Koepka emerged as the master of the major championship. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have had their moments and will have more. Rory McIlroy captivates us and Bryson DeChambeau challenges us.
Rahm – who has six PGA Tour wins and captured the award for lowest scoring average last season – just rolls along, as comfortable in who he is and what he does as any player on tour. That’s more valuable than anything FlightScope can tell a player.
“He’s grown up a lot this year,” Hayes said at the end of 2021. “A lot of reasons. He got married. He’s had his first child.”
Go back for a moment to how Rahm won the U.S. Open. Just two weeks earlier he was leading the Memorial by six strokes with one round remaining only to be told leaving the 18th green on Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
It was bitterly disappointing but it was not devastating.
“You have a split in the road. You can take it as a blamer or just take it. He handled it the way he handles everything. He didn’t blame anybody,” Hayes said.
“To this day, he never says, ‘I won Memorial.’ It happened. He never got wound up about it.”
Two weeks later, Rahm arrived at Torrey Pines with a peace about him. He loves the area, proposed to his wife, Kelley, on a nearby hiking trail and he had a sense something good was coming.
With a chance to win his first major championship, Rahm let the moment slow down. Louis Oosthuizen, DeChambeau, McIlroy and others were in the fight but Rahm won by holing two long left-right breaking putts on the last two holes.
In the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Rahm won 3½ of a possible five points, teaming with fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia to fight what felt like an unwinnable battle. Until Sunday when Scottie Scheffler beat him in singles, Rahm was Europe’s heartbeat.
His first Christmas as a father behind him, Rahm is back and intent on turning a big year into a bigger one.
“My goal is to beat (last year),” Rahm said at Kapalua. “My goal is always to do better each year. … I had such a consistent year and had one win, but I could tell you right now I would gladly take a bit more of inconsistency but have more than one win.
“I’m No. 1 because of how I played in the past, so if I want to stay here I got to keep playing at the level and trying to get better.
“At the end of the day, I focus on myself, right? I try to improve my game and improve my level of golf. If I can do that and play the way I know I can play, everything else should take care of itself.”
During his long break from competition, Rahm immersed himself in being a husband and father. On tournament weeks, he had been exempted from middle-of-the-night feedings and many of the other duties that come with tending to a newborn.
Rahm wanted to do those things. He looked forward to early mornings and giving his son a bath in the evening. He looked forward to being there.
“For those two months, I really, really, really enjoyed having to wake up a couple times a night and take care of my son,” Rahm said.
“I’m not going to regret (deciding) to spend more time with my family and that was what that decision was based on and I couldn’t be happier that I made that decision.”
As a father, Rahm is just getting started. As a force in the game, he may be just getting started, too.