Jon Rahm, golf’s new conquistador

PACIFIC PALISADES — Do we simply add a Roman numeral to the late, great Seve Ballesteros? Call Jon Rahm the Spanish Armada II? The new Conquistador?

The Tour has ended its annual stay in the Golden West (yes, the U.S. Open will be here in June, but that’s a bit different) and Mr. Rahm claimed most of the gold along with a first place in the world rankings.

He earned $3.6 million alone with the victory Sunday in the Genesis Invitational at historic Riviera Country Club, to highlight a two-month stretch that also included wins at the Sentry in Maui (from seven shots back) and American Express in Palm Desert.

Toss in a third at the WM Phoenix Open, and Rahm has earned $9 million hitting a little white ball in two months.

In addition, Rahm won the Farmers Open in 2017 at Torrey Pines in San Diego and the U. S. Open at Torrey in 2021. 

West may be best for Jon, but it’s off to Florida and waypoints. Of course, both areas have beaches and palm trees.

Rahm’s winning total was a 17-under par 267 after a final-round 69. That also was ahead of the 269 by the local, Max Homa, who won the event two years back, and three up on another local, Patrick Cantlay.

Rahm graduated from Arizona State, Homa from Cal, and Cantlay for a while was at UCLA, making the Genesis seem much like a Pac-12 Conference competition.

Rahm was delighted with the way he responded to the back nine, making birdies at 12 and 16 just when the tournament appeared to be getting away.

“I’ve never had three PGA Tour wins in a season and to do it this early on is incredible, and to do it at this golf course,” Rahm said. “Talk about the history of Riviera as a golf course, the history of Tiger Woods as a player, those two combined in this tournament, it’s a pretty big deal. As a historian of the game, to be able to win a tournament hosted by Tiger and the one hosted by Jack [Nicklaus] as well, it’s pretty incredible.”

That word also applies to Rahm’s play quite an ability to adapt to different style courses. Kapalua, in Maui, is hilly and relatedly wide; the courses for the American Express are in the desert, while Riviera is a 100-year classic with narrow fairways and deep bunkers.

The locations will change. Rahm’s thoughts will not.

“Obviously I've been extremely disciplined my whole career, but right now I'm seeing the dividends of a lot of the hard work over the years,” said Rahm. “So just keep doing the small things and keep enjoying it, having fun. Obviously, when you're playing good it's really fun and when you're winning tournaments, extremely fun, but got to enjoy the tough moments as well. Try to take it all in and, like I said, keep doing the little things properly every day and hopefully I can keep putting myself in position to win.”

Sounds easy — when it works.