Top 10 power rankings in 2022 The American Express

California has treated Jon Rahm well over the years. He played there often in his collegiate days in the Pac-12 representing Arizona State. Then, as a young pro, Rahm won his first career PGA Tour event at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open.

His second victory came a year later at The American Express (then CareerBuilder Challenge). Rahmbo posted 62-67-70-67 (-22) to reach a two-man playoff with Andrew Landry. Rahm was bogey-free on Sunday to climb three spots up the leaderboard. Both players made par on the first three sudden-death playoff holes before Rahm won with a birdie on the fourth.

On the week, Rahm hit 72.22% of greens in regulation, made no double bogeys or worse and was seventh in driving distance (309.8).

The big hitter will enjoy the wide landing areas off the tee the two PGA West courses and La Quinta CC have to offer.

Rahm said if not for state taxes, he’d live in California. It’s one of his favorite areas in the world, and it helps when you play great golf.

“I have a really good record in California in college as well. I played here in Palm Springs three times, I think I finished runner-up and third in two of them, Rahm was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2018. “I played in San Diego three tournaments as an amateur, won two of them, finished fifth in the other one, and as a pro won one of them. So I just, I don’t know, I get a good vibe in California. I like it. What can I say?”

Rahm will make his fourth The American Express appearance. He finished T-34th (71-66-70-72) in 2017 and sixth (66-66-68-67) in 2019 when he was just five off the pace.

The 27-year-old comes in off a week of rest following a solo second-place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Rounds of 66-66-61-66 were good for a whopping 33-under-par total, which would have been a PGA Tour record any other week. Unfortunately for Rahm, Cameron Smith stared him down on an exciting Sunday, winning at 34-under.

It’s wild to think Rahm’s only win in the last 365 days was his 2021 U.S. Open title. Between his unfortunate positive COVID test at the Memorial and 11 top-10s in that span, it goes without saying that the Spaniard is due for another victory.

This is one of the weaker fields he’ll face all year. Rahm should be licking his chops at a trio of courses that are rather defenseless to his well-rounded game.

Rahm led the PGA Tour last season in total strokes gained (2.098) thanks to his elite ball-striking (1st SG tee to green, 1.767) and solid short game and putting. His 4.51 birdies per round also ranked first, a rate he’ll likely exceed here in the desert.