I
n 2016 a 21-year-old Jon Rahm
travelled to Muirfield Village to
be presented with the Jack
Nicklaus National Player of the
Year award, recognising his
achievements on the American
college golf circuit. He made the most
of the opportunity, picking the brain
of Nicklaus in preparation for turning
professional.
Four years later golf’s greatest
champion stood by the 18th green of
his Ohio course on
Sunday at the
conclusion of the
Memorial
Tournament, which
Rahm won by three
strokes, to be among
the first to
congratulate him
on the completion of
his ascent to world
No 1. “I’m really happy
for you,” Nicklaus said.
A personal
congratulations
from Nicklaus,
albeit with an
awkward fist bump
rather than a warm
handshake, went a long
way to ensuring that thisthis quickly, in less than ten years.
How many people get to achieve a
lifelong dream in their mid-twenties?
It’s incredible. To be the second
Spaniard to do it, given there’s not
many Europeans that have gotten to
this spot, it’s a pretty unique feeling,
so I’m going to enjoy it for a while.”
The hot-headed Rahm has often
made more headlines for his tantrums
on the course than his steady play,
and it seemed perfectly apt in 2017
when he hired a former bomb-
disposal expert as his mental coach.
There have been improvements inrecent years — marriage to his
longtime girlfriend, Kelley Cahill, in
December appears to have had a
mellowing effect — although he still
has his moments. On Sunday he
slammed his club into the 11th tee box
after a poor drive. He was leading by
seven shots at the time.
This fiery competitive nature will
surely make Rahm a crucial Ryder
Cup stalwart for Europe. He has only
played in one so far, making his debut
at Le Golf National in 2018.
Impressively, he recovered from two
defeats in the four-balls to claim a 2
and 1 victory over Tiger Woods in the
singles.
Becoming the world No 1 without
winning a major brings a monkey on
the back to shake off, but many
within the sport do not foresee this
being a problem for Rahm. His best
chances will likely come on American
soil, on which he has already claimed
top-four finishes at the Masters, US
PGA Championship and US Open
since the start of 2018.
“Jon Rahm is a remarkable talent,
and you’re seeing it,” Mickelson said.
“You’re seeing it in his play week in
and week out from a game that has
no weaknesses. He drives it long,
drives it straight, has good iron play,
good wedge play and is a great putter.
He just doesn’t have a weakness.
“He also has great course
management, thinks himself around
the golf course, and he knows himself.
He knows that to relax sometimes he
has to let some of his anger out. He
can’t hold that in. It might upset some
people, but he knows that it allows
him to be at his best.”confident in his potential that he
made a casual bet with a friend in
2016 that Rahm would be ranked
inside the world’s top ten within a
year. Rahm delivered with two weeks
to spare and, unsurprisingly for
Mickelson, has gone on to replace
Rory McIlroy as No 1.
“I made this deal with myself very
young,” Rahm said. “I believe at 13 or
14 I started working towards that goal,
and everything I’ve done golf-wise
has been to become No 1 in the world
and become the best player I can be.
It’s pretty surreal that it’s happenedRahm kept his cool to win the Memorial Tournament by three shots and go top
of the rankings, with his wife Kelley Cahill, left, on hand to congratulate himEuropeans at world No 1
Sport
Majors the next
target for Rahm
after completing
a ‘lifelong dream’
In his rise to world No 1
ranking, fiery Spaniard
has shown talent to win
golf ’s greatest prizes,
writes Stuart Fraser
was still a special occasion for Rahm
in these strange and surreal times. He
can never have imagined that the
moment in which he became the best
golfer on the planet would take place
behind closed doors, with no cheers
and only a smattering of broadcasters
and tournament staff to offer a ripple
of applause.
Rahm, 25, has done something that
José María Olazábal and Sergio
García, both major winners, could not
by following in the footsteps of Seve
Ballesteros to become only the second
Spaniard to be ranked No 1 in the
world. It caps a meteoric rise for a
player who, unlike many before him,
has well and truly fulfilled the
promise he showed in his amateur
days.
Born and raised in the Basque
country, Rahm believed from an
early age that he was
capable of such an
achievement. He moved to
the United States at the
age of 17 and became a
star on the college
circuit for the
Arizona State
Sun Devils,
spending a
record 60 weeks
at the top of the
world amateur
rankings.
Rahm’s
exploits caught
the eye of Phil
Mickelson, who
the Action
Network
reports was soJAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGESRahm is the tenth European to top the world
rankings and the second player from SpainPlayer First at No 1 Last at No 1 Total wks
B Langer Ger April 1986 April 1986 3
S Ballesteros Sp April 1986 Aug 1989 61
N Faldo Eng Sept 1990 Feb 1994 97
I Woosnam WalesApril 1991 Mar 1992 50
L Westwood Eng Oct 2010May 2011 22
M Kaymer Ger Feb 2011 April 2011 8
L Donald Eng May 2011Aug 2012 56
R McIlroy N Ire Mar 2012 July 2020 106
J Rose Eng Sept 2018 April 2019 13
J Rahm Sp July 2020 July 2020 1the times | Tuesday July 21 2020 1GM 57