2021 BMW Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Caves Valley
If you were to poll most fans as the final group made the turn in the final round at The Northern Trust, an overwhelming majority would have rode with Jon Rahm to close it out. Myself included.
The world No. 1 appeared to be in cruise control with a 2-under back nine giving him a two-shot lead for large stretches. Birdies on No. 12 and 13 at Liberty National really made it feel like his week.
Then a wayward drive on 15 sent Rahm spiraling. A bogey there and a disappointing par on the drivable par-4 16th quickly submarined his chances. It didn’t help that Cameron Smith and Tony Finau both lit up on the back nine to create a playoff between the two.
Rahm settled for solo third place. Rounds of 63-67-67-69 are far from disappointing, though, especially considering this is the Spaniard’s first event since The Open after testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time before the Olympics.
He would have loved to pick up the free FedEx Cup points he missed out on at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Fortunately, he’s still in a great position to win all the cash sitting second in the points behind Finau.
This was Rahm’s fourth straight top-10 worldwide. That includes his first career major championship at the U.S. Open.
The 26-year-old has just one missed cut in 2021. Rahm has no weaknesses in his game and is first on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained (2.028). We all know he can boom the ball, and he does it without going offline. Rahm’s tops in total driving (84), which combines driving distance rank (21st) and driving accuracy rank (63rd).
Next. 2021 Northern Trust: How Jordan Spieth made consecutive triple bogies. dark
Rahm can be a fiery guy, and this one is sure to annoy him. He doesn’t seem to let disappointments linger from week to week. I expect him to get right back on the horse and contend again at a tournament where course history is all, but absent and pure talent can emerge.