2023 The American Express: Top 10 Power Rankings at PGA West
Jon Rahm is coming off a win a couple weeks ago and is a past champion at The American Express.
He took runner-up honors at the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions and made good in 2023. Rahm stormed back from several shots down on Sunday to nip Collin Morikawa, who also had a hand in ceding the tournament to Rahm.
But, a win’s a win, and Rahm showed how supremely talented he is with that Sunday 63 at Kapalua.
He opened the tournament with 64-71-67. On the week, the big Spaniard led the field in putts per greens in regulation (1.623). He was also second in driving distance (307.4) and seventh in greens in regulation (84.72%).
Here at The American Express, Rahm’s made the cut in all four appearances beginning in 2017. The highlight, of course, was his victory in 2018. In just his second visit, Rahm fired 62-67-70-67 and beat Andrew Landry in a playoff. They were two shots clear of third place.
He opened at La Quinta, went to the Nicklaus Course, and finished at the Stadium Course on the weekend.
Going to college at Arizona State and living in Scottsdale makes a visit to a climate like Palm Springs comfortable.
"“So I always play a lot on the West Coast because being in Arizona State alumni we played a lot in California and obviously Arizona, right. So those are events that it’s almost like, it’s like being at home, even though I’m not, but it’s like being at home,” Rahm was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2022. “So, to me, it’s where I’m comfortable at. I grew up on poa annua greens so any time I see poa annua greens I’m confident and everything else is very similar to desert play. So it’s what I have confidence in, that’s all I can say.”"
Rahm also finished sixth (66-66-68-67) in 2019 and T-14th (66-70-67-71) last year.
Next. At Waialae, the competition is always close. dark
The 28-year-old has six top-10s in a row and nine straight top-20s worldwide. Keep in mind plenty of these are limited field events, but his consistency has always been one of his strong suits.
Rahm led the PGA Tour last season in strokes gained per round off the tee (1.025) and is leading that stat early on in 2022-23 (1.123).