As soon as Jon Rahm set foot on the 12th tee at Augusta National on Sunday, his thoughts immediately turned to a hero from his childhood.
“Yeah, it was a good shot, it was just a yard too far right and spun into the water,” he told Rahm. The difference, he said, was that when Woods stepped up he aimed significantly further left, over the greenside bunker, content to find dry land and live to fight another day.
Rahm arrived at No. 12 with a two-stroke lead. He aimed left. He found dry land. After that?
“Hit a great lag putt, tapped it in and moved on.”
THE MOMENT RAHM’S THIRD SHOT landed on the 18th green, he felt a surge of emotion. And he thought of another childhood hero.
He’d imagined what this moment would feel like. He’d thought about this walk. He’d dreamt of winning the Masters ever since he knew it was something he could win. And now the four-shot lead he’d built guaranteed he was about to do exactly that. Fans continued to shout the same name they’d shouted all day in his direction.
“Do it for Seve!”
Sunday, April 9th, would have been Seve Ballesteros’ 66th birthday. It also marked the 40th anniversary of his second Masters victory. Rahm is a proud Spaniard. He’s a historian of the game. He knew the significance of the moment even as it was happening.
“I never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole,” he said post-round.
Behind Rahm, playing partner Brooks Koepka slowed his pace to a near-halt. He let his putter dangle from his hands, swinging back and forth, ceding the walk up Augusta’s green carpet to the soon-to-be champion, no doubt thinking of what could have been.
The weekend at Augusta National was heavily disrupted by severe weather conditions, resulting in schedule changes that led to the main contenders finishing their third round on Sunday morning. Going into the final day of the competition, Jon Rahm was four strokes behind Brooks Koepka, with a 9-under score through 54 holes.
Rahm started the final round with a birdie on the 495-yard fourth hole, putting him at 10-under for the event. Meanwhile, Koepka bogeyed the same hole, bringing the two players level.
On the sixth hole, Rahm impressively saved par with a slick putt, while Koepka bogeyed, propelling Rahm into the lead.
The momentum remained in Rahm’s favor as he made his way to the par-5, 570-yard eighth hole. After three strokes, he was just shy of the green, but he executed a magnificent wedge shot that landed him a tap-in birdie. With that, he reached 11-under for the tournament, including a 2-under score for the final round, putting him two strokes ahead of Koepka.
On the ninth hole, both Rahm and Koepka made a bogey, and Rahm ended the front-nine with a score of 10-under par, one stroke ahead of Koepka and a resurgent Jordan Spieth, who had finished at 8-under just moments before Rahm reached the 10th green.
As Rahm approached the midpoint of the back-nine, he solidified his lead with two consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, bringing his total score to 12-under and pushing him four strokes ahead of Mickelson.
His birdie on the par-4, 440 yard 14th earned a roar from the patrons on course.
Rahm remained at 12-under the rest of the way, with Koepka never sneaking closer than three strokes back.
JON RAHM COLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT WINS (11)
2016 NCAA Albuquerque Regional (May 16-18)
2016 Pac-12 Championships (Apr. 29-May. 1)
2016 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Apr. 2-3)
2015 Tavistock Invitational (Oct. 18-20)
2015 NCAA San Diego Regional (May 14-16)
2015 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Apr. 3-4)
2015 Duck Invitational (Mar. 23-24)
2014 Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 20-21)
2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Mar. 21-23)
2013 San Diego Classic (Mar. 11-12)
2012 Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 21-22)
MOST SUN DEVIL MEN’S GOLF TOURNAMENT WINS
Phil Mickelson (1988-92), 16
Jon Rahm (2012-present), 11
Billy Mayfair (1984-88), 8
Alejandro Canizares (2002-2006), 6
Charlie Gibson (1972-75), 6
Paul Casey (1997-2000), 6
Todd Demsey (1991-95), 5
SUN DEVIL LOWEST 54-HOLE SCORES (1993-94 TO PRESENT)
Jon Rahm, 192/-21 (2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
Jon Rahm, 195/-15 (2015 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
Jesper Kennegard, 197/-13 (2008 UH Hilo Invitational)
Benjamin Alvarado, 198/-18 (2007 NCAA West Regional in Tempe)
Alejandro Canizares, 200/-16 (2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
Jeff Quinney, 201/-15 (1999 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
BEST NCAA SEASON STROKE AVERAGE
Bill Haas, Wake Forest, 2003-04, 68.93
Maverick McNealy, Stanford, 2014-15, 69.05
Jon Rahm, Arizona State, 2014-15, 69.15
How much money every player made at the Masters
Win: $3.24 million – Jon Rahm
T2: $1.584 million – Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka
T4: $744,000 – Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Russell Henley
T7: $603,000 – Cameron Young, Viktor Hovland
9th: $522,000 – Sahith Theegala
T10: $432,000 – Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa
T14: $333,000 – Gary Woodland, Patrick Cantlay
T16: $324,000 – Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Jaoquin Niemann, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Sam Bennett (a), Hideki Matsuyama
T23: $172,800 – Keegan Bradley, Chris Kirk, KH Lee
T26: $138,600 – Tony Finau, Scott Stallings, Ryan Fox
T29th: $119,700 – Si Woo Kim, Sam Burns, Harold Varner, Mackenzie Hughes
33rd: $106,200 – Tommy Fleetwood
T34: $92,880 – Tyrrell Hatton, Cam Smith, Zach Johnson, Talor Gooch, JT Poston,
T39: $75,600 – Taylor Moore, Abraham Ancer, Adam Scott, Jason Day
T43: $63,000 – Max Homa, Harris English, Mito Pereira
T46: $54,000 – Sepp Straka, Seamus Power
T48: $48,060 – Dustin Johnson, Thomas Pieters
T50th: $47,160 – Charl Schwartzel, Fred Couples
52nd: $45,160 – Billy Horschel
53rd: $45,060 – Keith Mitchell