Jon Rahm claimed the world’s first place with authority on Sunday afternoon.
Rahm, who started the day with a four-shot lead, managed a three-shot victory at the Memorial Tournament in Muirfield Village, enough to overtake Rory McIlroy to claim the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Ranking for the first time in your career.
Rahm flew ahead of the pack on a hot and windy Saturday after posting a 4-under-68, the lowest round on a day when the scoring average was nearly two shots above par. While his Sunday round was by no means outstanding, he scored a 73 of 3 out of 73 in his final round to finish 9 below the week, he was much better than the rest of the group.
He also closed the deal with No. 16, after contributing the birdie to take the lead to four.
He was later given a two-shot penalty, however, after officials determined that his ball was moving when he boarded it before the shot, something Rahm said he neither saw nor felt.
“Fortunately, I probably pulled out the best short game opportunity I’ve ever had,” Rahm said on CBS. “I hit a couple of gods this week, but that was amazing … For that to come in, it was exactly what I needed.”
Ryan Palmer, who was second in the final round with Tony Finau, finished the week in second place with 6 under. Finau shot a 6 on Friday, dropping it to eighth. Matthew Fitzpatrick was third with 5 less.
The victory marked fourth in the PGA Tour de Rahm race, and first since the New Orleans Zurich Classic last season. Sunday’s start was the first time he finished in the top 25 since the game resumed last month after the COVID-19 parenthesis as well.
Rahm is now the second Spaniard to claim first place in the ranking, the first since Seve Ballesteros last did so in 1989, and the fifth youngest to do so.
The 25-year-old also revealed that he lost two family members to the coronavirus, and that his grandmother’s ashes spread in Madrid on Saturday.
“I am a person who processes things, so after the fact, it could honestly affect me in a couple of days or a couple of weeks,” Rahm said on CBS. “But every time I can join Spanish history with Seve, it is incredible … I am happy for my family, happy to be able to do it for my mother, my grandmother and the rest of the family.”
Tiger Woods fights to the end
Tiger Woods’ first PGA Tour outing in five months didn’t improve on Sunday.
Woods, who barely made the cut at the Memorial Tournament, something he has won five times in his career, posted a 4-over-76 on Sunday, moving it to 6 over the weekend to finish T40.
The finale marks the second-worst for the 82-time Tour winner this season ahead of his finale at The Genesis Invitational, where he ranked last among players who made the cut at the Southern California tournament he hosted in February.
Although the performance was not great, Woods was not too depressed after his round.
“I had four rounds and I was lucky to have spent the weekend,” Woods said after his round on CBS. “I made a little bit of progress in terms of shots, I had to clean the greens. I didn’t get well all week. But it is only progress. I haven’t played in a long time, and it’s nice to get my feet wet. ”
Woods declined to reveal when he will compete on the Tour again, only saying it will be “soon.”
“I think it’s just planning and making sure we have a plan on this return to golf,” he said. “This was the beginning, and we will see what happens in the near future.”
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