Masters 2023: Jon Rahm’s It has been believed that winners write history. One may say that in golf, history determines who wins.
On Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club, Jon Rahm threw open the throne chamber doors by punishing Brooks Koepka for 30 holes straight as the final round got underway after a postponed third round. Around 8:30 a.m. ET, Rahm bent over a putt on the seventh hole while behind Koepka by four. Over 11 hours later, Rahm defeated Koepka by the same margin.
Masters 2023: Jon Rahm’s comeback for the ages
Rahm missed the 9-foot par attempt, Koepka missed the 11-foot par putt, and the overnight advantage of four shots was immediately cut in half. Koepka never quite bounced back.
While Koepka struggled to get off the ground, playing Sunday in 5 over and throwing away a 36- and 54-hole lead as well as his best chance to join the comically historic five-major club, which has only welcomed 12 men since World War II, Koepka made just three bogeys on the day and played those final 30 holes in 3 under.
Speaking of clubs, Rahm became the first European to win both the U.S. Open and the Masters on Sunday, joining his own exclusive club. For the past 80 years, just 14 individuals worldwide have achieved that achievement; none of them were born in Britain. That group doesn’t even include the illustrious Seve Ballesteros, the first Spaniard to win the Masters forty years ago and a guy whose birthday happened on Masters Sunday.
Rahm expressed his difficulty in believing the first one after the victory. “Making history, you know, is the only thing that could possibly be greater than completing something like this. Being the first to complete something like that after all the achievements and the many great players that came before me is a really humble feeling.”
This is a tale about how, despite being among the top three players in the world for the past eight years, Jon Rahm is nevertheless less well-known and well-liked than contemporaries who have considerably shorter résumés. It’s also a narrative about how significant big championships are now more than ever due of their rich history.
Rahm will be our first stop. Only Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson can assert to have spent the past seven years on his statistical planet. These three players have improved their scores by an average of more than 2.0 strokes each round since June 1, 2016, the day Rahm went professional, according to Data Golf. Throughout that period, they have combined for 49 victories globally.
Yet even among McIlroy and Johnson, Rahm stands apart. Since June 2016, he has led the field in terms of overall victories (19), top 10 finishes (84), top 10 percentage (54%) and total strokes earned (2.2). Even when compared to two of the top 25 players in history, he stands out as unique.
These statistics do not, however, always identify the winners in golf. The four major championships are the ones in golf that, fairly or not, show off your abilities to the general public (and essentially the whole golf world). For example, Martin Kaymer, Angel Cabrera, and Koepka’s professional careers, this has been fantastic. For athletes like Davis Love III and Greg Norman, it hasn’t been as good.
Rahm possesses ability and skill that are unworthy of a someone who has won only one major title. Heck, a man with two or three may not think it appropriate. Ever since he was able to drink alcohol legally, people have been raving about him (in the United States). Rahm would rank among the top 10 players in the world, Phil Mickelson once wagered in a casual wager with Colt Knost. At the time, he was rated No. 766.
If it hadn’t occurred to you before this week, Rahm is one of the all-time greats.
Yet, this week was only partially about Rahm because, as we’ve said before, the majors are the only events that include all of golf’s past victories.
Returning to the one spot where the only thing that counts more than golf is the players who built this event was a relief after a year of blathering and drivel from practically every member of the golf world (including me).
Also, it served as a reminder that even with all the money invested in clubs, players, and sponsors since the year 2022 began, you cannot buy the past. Nothing could be more significant when it comes to the four major championships.
Ever since I started thinking about golf and what it would be like to be a winner, Rahm said, “I’ve wanted to win [the Masters].” There are four outstanding tournaments that come to mind for everyone, and this one is undoubtedly among them (without placing them in any particular order).
There was nothing even even like a verbal brawl at Augusta National, contrary to what some fans may have anticipated when they tuned in this week. Even if it wasn’t a formal celebration of the finest players in the world coming together once more, it was darn close.
The Masters remains a genuine custodian of the game, despite all the attention we have focused on the PGA Tour and its new opponent over the last 12 months, which was amply demonstrated this week. Whether on purpose or not, that is what this rumour has caused.
The majors are now considerably more significant than they were before, indicating that history has already chosen the winners. (This would have been the case if Phil Mickelson or Brooks Koepka had also triumphed.)
According to Mickelson, who surprisingly scored a Sunday 65 to finish T2 this week, “I felt it was wonderful that this event climbed above it all to have the top players in the world here and lost all the pettiness.” It was excellent.
He went on: “What tour you play from doesn’t matter in this competition. In several different circuits, there are players from all around the world, and you bring the greatest players to compete against one another in the majors. And it is the main focus. That’s how golf should be played. Such historical occurrences should and will always have a place in history.”
We looked around the entire week, speculating about potential outcomes. Nothing ever did because the Masters, where Rahm and Koepka dominated the whole Sunday, is a venue where you frequently have to pay attention.
Mickelson’s remarks should be heard. And pay attention to Rahm’s footsteps. They are audible everywhere.
Thundering down Augusta National’s chilly, soggy, and hazy fairways while pursuing legends.
Even when he is standing straight, Rahm always seems to be moving downward, and when a guy of his magnitude begins moving downward, there is nothing left to do except pray.
Also Read : Jon Rahm wins at the Masters.
With your eyes closed, you could see the Rahm-Koepka match, but not quite. The sneering Koepka strolled in vibrant trainers, resembling Joe Namath. Rahm, who is stomping, boiling, and sweating, resembles Joe Thomas more. They were similar to guys who are kicked out of bars for a variety of different reasons.
Pay attention to the swings. There is nothing else in sports like Koepka’s wicked whoosh. Rahm’s fast, effective transformation—partially caused by a clubfoot that made him one of the finest players to ever hit it—is impressive.
Smoke began to drift off the galleries all the way down the 13th as the day at Augusta National melted into night, as it usually does. It has the aroma of cigars, sagas, bravery, and conflict. It had the typical aroma of a Sunday at the Masters.
When both players scored birdies on the redesigned par 5, Rahm maintained his three-shot advantage. Then, with the intensity of a guy determined to leave his mark on a trophy and all over this prestigious course, he made his way to the 14th tee.
He appeared to be reminding himself that he is fighting the earth, not the man across the road, by pounding the ground with his boots in the manner of a boxer pounding a heavy bag.
Take note of his hands. They recount the history of the Spanish presence at Augusta National, but they also highlight the might of one guy whose dexterity was deceiving. A golf ball shouldn’t be able to dance that way under the control of a monster this powerful.
Jon Rahm extends his lead with a masterful birdie at No. 14. #themasters pic.twitter.com/bQmN74Wnna
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2023
Listen to Rahm ramble, groan, and pummelled Koepka, who bogeyed the 14th for the finishing blow, who was instantly broken. Rahm clipped a tree on No. 18, pulled out a provisional, and said he never felt the slightest bit concerned due to the Spaniard’s growing advantage. An advantage of four shots with one hole left has such worth.
As you watch the conclusion of their match, two-time Masters champion José Mara Olazabal will be hugging Rahm and cradling his head in his enchanted Spanish hands. Seve, who would have turned 66 on Sunday, was grieved, but they also celebrated the history that they all now own.
Two fierce Spanish guys were drawn to a man and the bizarre game he was playing.
Olazábal told Golf Channel, “It’s great.” “It’s fantastic. The green jacket is already being worn by four Hispanics. It’s incredible that a small nation like Spain has produced four Masters champions. In my opinion, it’s fantastic. And I think it’s going to be terrific for the game of golf in Spain.”
“The phrase “Seve! Seve! Try it out for Seve! The entire back nine, I heard, “Rahm remembered, basking in victory after the round, the spectators’ yells. “The emotion that came with knowing what would happen if I were to win may have been the most difficult thing to handle today. The hardest part could have been that.”
The past is not for sale. The winners are decided by history.
That’s a wonderful accomplishment for the three men.
Rahm paid special attention to the diners as they yelled Seve’s name. He was told a narrative, which increased the significance of his own.
It is what makes big championships unique. They accumulate over time and become more significant the longer they last.