Forget what the world golf ranking might say.
Jon Rahm, who won his second straight PGA Tour start Sunday at the American Express and his fourth tournament in his past five official starts, is the player whom everyone else in the game is chasing at the moment.
According to the Official World Golf Ranking, Rahm is ranked third, moving up just two spots despite being undefeated on the PGA Tour this calendar year, adding the Amex title to his victory in the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks earlier on Maui.
But whether it’s the eye test or the scorecard test, Rahm is on a rare roll.
How good has Rahm been recently?
Let’s go back to fall to offer perspective. Here are his finishes in official events (the Hero World Challenge, in which he tied for eighth, is an unofficial event):
T2 BMW PGA Championship
Won the Spanish Open
T4 CJ Cup in South Carolina
Won DP World Tour Championship
Won Sentry Tournament of Champions
Won the American Express
And if you’re wondering what’s next, Rahm is in the field this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, one of his favorite places in the world and not just because his first PGA Tour win came in 2017 at the San Diego muni and he won the U.S. Open there in 2021.
Rahm was pushed to the final hole on Sunday at PGA West because Davis Thompson, a tour rookie, forced the issue and Rahm kept seeing his putts burn the edges of cups.
“I hit a lot of good putts. It’s just golf. I made the ones I needed,” said Rahm, who signed for a 4-under 68 and a 27-under 261 total. “Had I had the same putting as (Saturday) or Friday, it probably would have been a runaway victory.”
A bogey at the 13th hole dropped Rahm into a tie with Thompson, but the Spaniard regained a one-stroke lead with a birdie at the par-5 16th.
At the par-3 17th hole, Thompson watched his 48-foot birdie putt hit the flagstick square but stayed out, leaving him one behind and crestfallen.
“I got a little lucky when Davis’ putt didn’t go in on 17,” said Rahm, 28, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour who also has won eight times on the DP World Tour. “What a heck of a player he is. He gave me a real battle.”
As for the world ranking, the LIV Golf-related controversy that has been simmering for months has been superseded recently by the process itself, with Rahm finding himself as the focal point.
It was unusual enough that Rahm didn’t move from No. 5 in the world after winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions against a field that included most of the top 20 players in the world. Rahm was fourth entering last week.
Before the American Express, there was no scenario for Rahm to unseat Rory McIlroy at No. 1, even with a victory at PGA West. However, No. 5 Patrick Cantlay would have jumped to No. 1 had he won in the California desert.
Little wonder that Rahm has called the ranking system “laughable” in the past.
Rather than dwell on algorithms, Rahm can point to the results to make his own case.
Ron Green Jr.