Jon Rahm: The super-rookie is human
PGA TOUR rookie Jon Rahm looked on track to make a big splash at THE PLAYERS, but something went wrong – and Rahm didn’t blame anything except his own body!
Jon Rahm is having quite a rookie season on the PGA TOUR. The 22-year old Spaniard who hasn’t seen a golf course he doesn’t like, however, may have experienced his personal Waterloo last Saturday at TPC Sawgrass.
The big six footer – Rahm is 6’2″ and weighs in at 220 pounds – puts tremendous power into his golf swing. It’s power that’s paid off handsomely – 60 weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, low amateur honors at the 2016 U.S. Open. The Arizona State product was primed for success when he turned pro last year and started his rocket-like ascent up the OWGR from a starting point of 551 to 12th when he took on TPC Sawgrass at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Rahm came to the tee at THE PLAYERS looking like he was ready to slay Pete Dye’s dragon. He’d notched his first pro win in January at The Farmer’s Insurance Open and he delivered breathtaking, standout performances at the WGC-Match Play and the Wells Fargo Championship. And he had so much fun getting there!
The oddsmakers were giving him 20 to 1 odds to win THE PLAYERS Championship, right up there with Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, and Hideki Matsuyama.
Westbrook sports book manager Jeff Sherman was positively effusive about the state of Rahm’s game going into THE PLAYERS:
"He’s playing as solid as anybody. He’s a guy, in the 20-1 range, that offers value. I expect him to be there Sunday. He’s so consistent, it’s not going to be too long that you’re going to see his odds right up at 10-1 or less on a weekly basis. He’s ready to ascend to that next level as a favorite on a weekly basis."
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Jon Rahm’s spiraling fall
On Thursday Rahm was following the book maker’s script. He carded a blemish-free 68 and was comfortably on the front page of the leaderboard. But gradually things got worse. His 2nd round 72 reflected a lot of birdie-ups and bogey-downs. There just wasn’t any consistency in his game on Friday.
Still, he’d banked enough shots on Thursday that he was still in red numbers going into the weekend and had plenty of space to pick himself up and get back into contention. But it didn’t happen that way.
Saturday was a horror show for Jon Rahm. Double bogeys on the 6th, 7th, and 10th holes were the nails in a coffin shaped by a six-hole bogey train. A front nine 42 and a back nine 40 sent Rahm out the TPC Sawgrass back door. His 2017 PLAYERS Championship was finished.
Never have I heard a pro explain a meltdown the way Jon Rahm explained his Saturday at TPC Sawgrass:
"I do not know what went through my body. . . I just kept getting pounded and pounded . . . Towards the end, I feel like my body just wasn’t responding, and it’s something that hasn’t happened in a while."
It wasn’t the condition of the greens. It wasn’t the wind. It wasn’t the heat, or the humidity, or the unfair pin placement. It wasn’t a new ball or slippery grips. It was the golfer. It was a user problem.
Rahm will come back from his 3rd round meltdown with his dignity intact. He’s sitting out the AT&T Byron Nelson but Rahm fans won’t have to wait long to see him back in action, delivering breathtaking shots and and challenging the top of the board.