Joining the greatest at Augusta National

Just call him Dad

Jon Rahm became a new papa last weekend. Now to make it a truly memorable week, give him a Masters championship as a baby shower gift.

Since joining the Tour in 2017, Rahm has gone winless in Majors. But he’s done enough to lay the groundwork for his consideration among the game’s greatest if he can actually win this week.

Rahm tied for third at the 2019 U.S. Open, took solo fourth at the 2018 Masters and tied for fourth at that year’s PGA. Last November he tied for seventh at Augusta behind Dustin Johnson.

Those performances and a few others give Rahm a peak rating of -0.89 entering the 2021 Majors season. That’s outside the game’s top 200, but within reach.

Were Rahm to win this week with a separation from the field in the range of 2.50 standard deviations, his peak rating would improve to something in the neighborhood of -1.18.

At -1.18, Rahm would tie Reed, Wie West and Woosnam for 164th place. He would be within striking range of some well-known figures, among them Fuzzy Zoeller (-1.21), Ken Venturi (-1.21), Justin Leonard (-1.21) and Mike Weir (-1.22).

And like the others, he would also be positioned for further ascents up the ranking with strong showings during the rest of the major season. As an illustration of his potential, give Rahm a Masters win plus a couple more top 10s in 2021 Majors and he could project as high as 125th place. By season’s end, that would put him in the company of guys like Boros, Rose and Smith.