THE PLAYERS Championship: top five TPC Sawgrass sleepers

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May 6, 2017; Wilmington, NC, USA; Jon Rahm of Spain eyes his tee shot on number four during the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Eagle Point Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /

Jon Rahm

Official World Golf Ranking: 12

FedEx Cup Ranking: 4

Best PLAYERS Finish: N/A – First appearance in 2017

Rahm has been white-hot lately, but he’s also making his first PLAYERS appearance. History has rarely been good to first-timers at THE PLAYERS; Hal Sutton (1983) and Craig Perks (2002) are the only PLAYERS Championship rookies to bring home the title. That’s some mix of a ridiculously talented field and Pete Dye treachery at play.

However, history can only teach us so much about what we’re going to look at this week. It wasn’t so long ago, after all, that Rahm was another Spaniard filled with potential. Following January’s CareerBuilder Challenge, Rahm was just 137^th in the Official World Ranking. One week later, Rahm triumphed at Torrey Pines, and shot up into the world’s top 50. And he hasn’t looked back.

Call it a hot streak if you like, but four months of top-level play is quickly changing Rahm from “potential” into “star.” Rahm, much like Dustin Johnson, gets a lot of his advantage from prodigious distance off the tee. The difference, this season at least, is that Rahm is putting much better than DJ, a skill that will help him greatly at Sawgrass.

Rahm has plenty to learn, to be sure. But there are few lessons learned better than simply getting out there and doing it. If Rahm falls short this week, it won’t be for lack of ability.

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