Jon Rahm should be eager to get back to Albany.
In Hero World Challenge appearances in 2018 and 2019, only one player bested him.
Rahm’s tournament debut ended in a trophy thanks to scores of 71-63-69-65 to win by four over Tony Finau.
The Spaniard nearly became the tournament’s first back-to-back champion since host Tiger Woods in 2006-07. Rounds of 70-66-69-66 left Rahm one back of Henrik Stenson in 2019.
“It was a week where ball-striking was really important. Windy place like this, tough to make putts. It was just a fun week,” Rahm was transcribed by Tee Scripts in 2019 regarding his win the previous year.
Rahm just had a fun week at the DP World Tour Championship a couple weeks ago in Dubai. He posted 70-66-65-67 to win by two at the tour’s 50-player season finale.
It wasn’t quite enough to win the season-long Race to Dubai as Rahm jumped from 11th in the final standings to third.
He had a disappointing year at many of the big events, but Rahm is doing well to salvage momentum going into 2023. He took T-2nd at the BMW PGA Championship, won the Acciona Open de Espana presented by Madrid on home soil, took T-4th against a great field at the CJ Cup, and now won in the Middle East.
He’s likely ready for a little R&R, but it’s not like things are too stressful in Albany.
Rahm is beginning to look like world No. 1 again. He can inch closer to his former throne with current No. 1, Rory McIlroy, eschewing the Hero.