Double blow for Jon Rahm. The Spaniard won, on Sunday April 9, the first Grand Slam golf tournament of the year, the Augusta Masters in the United States, which allows him to become number 1 in the world rankings again at the expense of the defending champion. , Scottie Scheffler. Rahm thus won his eleventh PGA trophy and his first Masters, he who opened his Grand Slam counter in 2021 with the US Open.
“I’m really proud of myself,” said Rahm, who couldn’t believe his eyes when he learned he was the first European to win the Masters and the US Open.
The 28-year-old Spaniard returned a 69 (3-under) card on Sunday, with four birdies and a bogey, and finished the tournament at 12 under par, four strokes ahead of his two pursuers, the Americans Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson (-8), both representatives of the dissident circuit LIV. Koepka, who led the race throughout the tournament, collapsed in the 4th round, with six bogeys, while Mickelson made an impressive comeback, with no less than eight birdies on the last lap.
Tribute to Severiano Ballesteros
Jon Rahm, who has already won three other PGA titles in 2023, becomes the fourth Spaniard to sport the famous green blazer of the winner, after Severiano Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal, who congratulated his compatriot on the 18th hole.
“For me, it’s incredibly meaningful to win on his 40th anniversary day, on his birthday and on Easter Sunday,” Rahm said, speaking of his idol Ballesteros, who would have celebrated his 66th birthday on Sunday. .
“I can’t find the words,” Rahm added almost in tears. The Spaniard will begin his 47th week at the top of the world rankings, thus equaling Koepka.
Rahm started his round with a birdie on the 3rd hole, allowing him to come within a unit of leader Koepka, who conceded a bogey on the 4th hole to put the two opponents level. A bogey from Koepka on the 6th hole then gave Rahm the lead, who birdied the decisive 8th hole to take a two-stroke lead.
Despite a bogey on the 9th hole, Rahm kept his composure and quietly continued with birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, at the end of a marathon day for golfers who had to finish their 3rd round early Sunday morning, suspended the day before due to the rain.
“I never freaked out,” Jon Rahm said. “I felt comfortable and that’s all I can do. Koepka conceded that he “just had an average game.” “I didn’t feel like I played too badly,” but that wasn’t enough against Jon Rahm, continued the American, who did not fail to warmly congratulate his competitor on the last hole.
Duel between the PGA and the dissident LIV
This duel between Rahm and Koepka, to which Mickelson was added, is also the one between the dissident circuit LIV, of which Koepka and Mickelson are part, and the PGA circuit, to which Rahm has remained faithful.
The PGA is indeed waging a tough legal battle at the LIV, a competing circuit created last summer and financed by Saudi Arabia, which has attracted many golf stars by offering record endowments of $ 25 million per event.
On this, Koepka said that while the rift is real, Masters week proved that personal relationships remain intact. “It’s nice to see everyone. There is no grudge. I think that’s how everyone should see it,” he said.
The defending champion, the American Scottie Scheffler, slightly missed his Masters, finishing in 10th place, with a record of -4.
His compatriot, legend Tiger Woods, retired before the restart on Sunday due to a foot injury. “Disappointed to have to retire this morning due to further worsening of my plantar fascia,” he tweeted.
The player with fifteen Majors, five-time winner of the Masters, had a terrible car accident in February 2021 in California, from which he came out with multiple fractures in his leg
