By Ron Green Jr.
Whether Ralph Waldo Emerson was a golfer or not, his enduring observation that it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey applies to almost anyone who has played the game with any sort of commitment.
In particular, it applies to Jon Rahm.
The 29-year-old Spaniard is one of the best players of his generation, constructing a life and a career that underpin each other and have made him more than an exceptional player.
It’s not just about the green jacket that Rahm won last April, grinding through the spring rains in Augusta to beat Brooks Koepka, or his dominating run through the first half of 2023. Those are parts of Rahm’s continuing evolution, but it’s more than that.
Rahm has grown into a presence. His game turns heads, and his thoughts open minds. A husband, a father and a two-time major champion, Rahm has grown into his elevated place in the game.
In a year otherwise defined by Scottie Scheffler’s relentless consistency, Rory McIlroy’s continued brilliance, Viktor Hovland’s ascension and Koepka’s return to major-championship success, Rahm has earned Global Golf Post’s men’s player of the year award for his overall achievements.
“It’s cliché, but it’s maturity. It’s time,” said Adam Hayes, Rahm’s caddie of seven years.
“He came on tour with a lot of expectations. It’s easy to put expectations on yourself, and sometimes the expectations may have gotten a little of the best of him. This year he was excellent mentally all year.
“He finally settled into a role of what to expect and how to handle the expectations. Just allow his play to speak for itself.”
In 2023, Rahm had four victories, two runner-up finishes and 10 top-10s in 20 starts on the PGA Tour.
From January through April, Rahm was extraordinary. In a five-event stretch starting at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he finished 1, 1, T7, 3, 1 – and that was before he won the Masters in April.
Rahm also finished T2 at the Open Championship, T10 at the U.S. Open, went 2-0-2 in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory and ranked sixth on tour in strokes gained total and fourth in strokes gained approach to the green.
Though his dominance slowed in the second half of the year, Rahm closed the year with three top-10 finishes in three starts on the DP World Tour.
“It was the first time for me being in contention for so many weeks in a row,” Rahm said earlier this year, “and being in contention every time it’s a little bit more taxing, especially Sundays if you’re on the lead or close to the lead mentally, right? You think you’re always putting the same output, but the pressure’s a little bit different, right? So, just leading up to the Masters and what that week was, with the delays and the weekend I had to play, I was a little bit tired. I went to Hilton Head and still performed good. I never quite did have enough time to be able to, like I would say, fully recover from that. It was like a slow process for that to happen.
“That’s the beauty of golf: There’s always the following week. And it’s a good thing that happened. I learned a lot about myself, and hopefully for the next time I’ll be better prepared to handle it.”
Even in an otherwise quiet offseason, Rahm’s name has continued to percolate. After initially committing to the new TGL project that had been scheduled to debut in January, Rahm withdrew, citing the travel demands from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, to the league’s home in southeast Florida. (The TGL’s debut has been pushed back to 2025 due to weather damage to the event facility.)
“It would have been a bit more of a commitment than I expected at first,” Rahm said recently.
Rahm’s name continues to be prominent in rumors regarding a potential move to LIV Golf, though Rahm was adamant earlier in the year that he intends to remain on the PGA Tour.
With two major-championship victories on his résumé and a game that has no significant weakness, Rahm finds himself primed to build on what he already has accomplished.
“Sometimes you’re just in the right mental place,” Hayes said. “You see it from Rory to Brooks to Tiger to Jordan [Spieth] to Justin Thomas. They just seem at ease, and their golf flourishes.”
Scheffler’s season, which included victories in the Players Championship and the WM Phoenix Open along with a T2 at the PGA Championship, was a marvel of consistency. His 68.63 scoring average was the seventh-lowest ever (the six lowest are all by Tiger Woods), and he was the first player in the strokes-gained era to lead the tour in strokes gained off the tee and approach to the green.
“I’m a fan of what Scottie has done. I’ve prided myself in the past on consistency, even though this year has been a little bit less. With that said, I’ll take four wins and play a little bit bad for a couple months,” Rahm said at the Open Championship.
“I think if you ask [Scheffler], he’ll probably give a couple of those top-fives away for an extra win because that’s what we’re here for, but nevertheless it’s really impressive what he’s done, and I’m a fan of players that can keep playing golf at that level for a long time.”
Hovland won three times – the Memorial Tournament, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship – to capture the FedEx Cup. In 22 worldwide starts, Hovland did not miss a cut and he finished top-20 in all four majors and flirted with winning the Players (T3) and PGA (T2).
“He’s not a guy that he just has a ton of talent and he just shows up and does it,” Scheffler said of the young Norwegian. “Whenever I’m in the gym, I usually see Viktor in there. When I’m out practicing, I usually see Viktor out there practicing. He’s not one of the guys that just shows up and does it. He’s a guy that puts in the work.”
Top: Jon Rahm during the second round of the 2023 DP World Tour Championship
DAVID CANNON, GETTY IMAGES
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