You can stop worrying about the tantrums, or his form, or his ability. You can stop calling him a sleeper. After turning in perhaps the season’s most dominant Sunday finish anywhere in the world, Jon Rahm should be one of your favorites at Royal Birkdale at the Open Championship in two weeks time.
On a wild and wet Sunday at Rory McIlroy’s Irish Open, Rahm fired an 8-under-par 64 to race away from overnight co-leader & American underdog Daniel Im and pick up his second professional win in his short pro career. It was a spectacular showing from Rahm, who’s quickly becoming one of the best bets in the sport for compelling TV golf. Amid the rain and winds at Portstewart, Rahm hit it all over off the tee, but managed shot after shot, recovery after recovery to put himself in position to fire the low number on the wet seaside links. The highlight of the round came early, with this eagle hole-out on the fourth acting as the catalyst for a day of dominance.
Wow! @JonRahmpga holes out from 150 yards! pic.twitter.com/9swulmsVBK
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 9, 2017
But of course, this is golf, and we can’t have a good and awesome Sunday without some mild rules controversy. Early in Rahm’s round on the sixth hole, rumbles began to flare up that the Spaniard would be assessed a two-stroke penalty for improperly replacing his ball on the green after moving his mark out of the line of Im.
When reviewing the video, it’s clear that Rahm marked his ball to the side before moving his marker, but replaced the ball in front of the mark when ahead of holing his putt on the sixth green. That means the ball, although perhaps by millimeters, hasn’t been replaced in the same spot as where it was marked. That, when strictly interpreted, is a violation that should result in a two-shot penalty. However, the European Tour elected not to assess Rahm the penalty, since he didn’t demonstrate any intent to replace his ball improperly. Some people will holler about protecting the field, and sure, manipulating the placement of the ball by dishonest players is something that happens at every level of golf, including the professional ranks. This wasn’t that. It was an honest mistake. It wasn’t penalized. That’s fine.
Imperfect science here, but laid the first two images on top of each other. Ball appears to be directly where it was before it was marked. pic.twitter.com/5FKiTm2QvS
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 9, 2017
With the win, Rahm’s set to jump to 8th in the world, according to Golf Channel’s Justin Ray. Here’s a couple other quick observations from Portstewart.
Jon Rahm has been a professional for 384 days.
Considering his ominpresence on leaderboards, perhaps we’re already taking Rahm for granted. He’s won at Torrey Pines in dramatic fashion already, contended at two WGCs, vaulted into the world’s top-10, and now has won a Rolex Series event in Europe. He’s done all of this in just over one year’s time.
But on the heels of Rahm’s rise, it’s worth considering by what measure we define a star in golf.
Is it by youth, potential, the impact they have on the game as a whole? A purist would tell you it’s about performance, winning, of course. Perhaps, in a sport so obsessed with traditionalism, a star is birthed when the collective golf community commences hand-wringing about something. Tiger Woods swore too much on camera. Rory works out too much. Jordan Spieth? He’s too dependent on his team.
If such is the criteria, Rahm’s there. Since a lackluster performance and meltdown at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, we’ve heard takes about his “tantrums” and on-course demeanor. Though he owes the golf populace nothing in this regard, he’s still apologized time and time again and noted he’s working on the issue. He’s also an uber-talented 23-year-old playing a mentally taxing sport in front of millions of eyeballs for millions and millions of dollars. Acting like a well-mannered saint in such a sporting situation is a stupid prerequisite that only golf’s ham-handed history could promulgate. This is entertainment! We would all be better served such sanctimony died tomorrow.
The mark of a great athlete is a wake of bad takes on the internet. Rahm’s created plenty already. Welcome to stardom.
The European Tour just gets everything right. You should be watching.
I’ll start with this: There’s nothing wrong with the PGA Tour. Our American tour is still considered the world’s best, hosts plenty of wildly compelling events, and is starting to step outside its comfort zone with events like the Zurich Classic.
But, man — man — the European Tour is so damn good and fun to watch.
In an era where golf’s needing to look a bit outside the box to attract a younger and more diverse audience, the Euro Tour’s led the charge. Events like GolfSixes have received rave reviews from players, media, and European fans — and you’ll likely see the other tours follow suit in the future. They’ve added music to practice ranges. They’ve allowed players to wear shorts in practice rounds. But the Euro Tour’s strengths go far beyond just this progressiveness: they’ve revitalized an awesome series of events.
This stretch of the Rolex Series leading into the Open Championship is the crown jewel of the Euro Tour’s renaissance. Three events — the French Open, Irish Open, and Scottish Open — provide a perfect lead-up to world golf’s top event. But they’ve managed to make these events compelling standalone destinations for players, regardless of the place on the schedule. The French Open provided the only place to see Le Golf National ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup. The Irish Open has Rory. The Scottish Open’s always been one of the tour’s best events, anyway. It’s a hell of a run.
There are few sports organizations in the world making better decisions than the European Tour right now, and it almost always manifests in awesome, unique Sunday golf. If you’re an American looking for a change-up from the mid-summer monotony of the PGA Tour, you can grab your golf fix earlier on Sunday the next couple weeks.