Jon Rahm wins over TV

Jon Rahm lives in Arizona, at whose university he studied and was crowned world number one amateur golfer, and from which he made the leap to professional.

He is married to an American, Kelley, whom he met at a costume party, he as an elite police officer and she as an NFL referee, and his two children, with Basque names, Kepa and Eneko, were born in the United States. Joined.

He has an American manager and agency, as does his

, Adam, and his training team.

He speaks perfect English, after learning it by listening to Eminem, he is one of the great stars of the circuit and a speaker in the battle against the Saudi league, and he is friends with legends like Michael Phelps.

Even his name sounds

(Rahm is a Swiss surname), and in his game book he sports the nickname Rahmbo.

But Rahm is not American, but from Barrika, a municipality in Bizkaia with 1,500 inhabitants where his parents, Edorta and Ángela, live, and that passport, he says, influences his not appearing on American television during tournaments unless he bids for victory. .

“They don't take me out because I'm not from there, I'm not one of the pampered.

But if I win, they will have no choice but to take me out”, explained the Basque golfer last week, before playing the American Express in California.

And that he did, win, and the cameras had no choice but to surrender.

Today there is no fitter golfer in the world than Jon Rahm, winner of four of the last six tournaments he has played: Spanish Open, DP World Tour, Sentry Tournament of Champions and American Express.

An unstoppable cyclone.

If in the Sentry he came back to nine shots behind against Collin Morikawa on Sunday, in La Quinta he resisted among the best until he prevailed with 27 strokes under par, one ahead of Davis Thompson.

The same digit with which he triumphed in the tournament of champions.

That is to say, in two appointments this year on the PGA Tour, 144 holes, the Basque accumulates a 54 under par, at an average of 66.3 strokes per round.

In California he catapulted to victory with 28

, an

and just three

for the week.

Demolition Man.

Worldwide greatness 😤 pic.twitter.com/1kLBbOYzNd

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 23, 2023

Rahm is in

at the start of a season in which the big four have been marked in red.

It is the terrain of reconquest after winning the US Open in 2021 and being out of the top 10 in each season of the Grand Slam in 2022.

The new crown rounds off a statistic in which only Woods surpasses him.

Rahm has won 11.6% of the world ranking tournaments he has played (18 out of 155), only behind Tigre (22%) and ahead of world number one, Rory McIlroy (8.3%). .

And the laurel matches him with Seve Ballesteros in number of titles on the American circuit, nine.

The Spaniard, who in that collection grouped five greats, reached that figure at the age of 31 despite not playing regularly on the American circuit.

Ram is 28.

"My father started playing golf because of the 1997 Ryder and Seve's captaincy, so that's what brought me here," said the Basque this Sunday.

“When Seve started there were 30,000 licenses in Spain and when he died there were more than 350,000.

I would love to improve that.

I know it will be difficult to reach his level but if I can make golf more popular in Spain I will be a happy man.

This is why I take representing my country so seriously and why Seve's legacy is so important to me,” he explained.

The victory with which the Cantabrian genius was matched raised him to number three in the world ranking and to the top of the FedEx Cup, the list of the best of the course in the PGA.

With the loot of 1.44 million dollars, he is on the verge of entering the group of the 25 golfers with the most earnings of all time.

Unfortunately for @JonRahmPGA's kids, there wasn't any food in the trophy 😆 pic.twitter.com/7uQ2JRstQy

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 23, 2023

The Basque is determined to leave his name engraved in golf history and looks to other great stars for inspiration.

Kobe Bryant, for example.

“During my university years, I spent a lot of time listening to his interviews because I see many similarities in the way we approach our work.

He was someone to learn from.

Work ethic trumps talent every day of the week.

And I like to think that I have a really tough discipline, ”Rahm commented after his new triumph.

He has also shared confidences with Michael Phelps to “peek a little into his brain” and shares a chat with two Cardinals football players, JJ Wart and Zach Ertz.

“In my mind I feel like I can improve a lot.

That is the mindset I should have.

I can find mistakes in all the rounds I've played.

I work very hard, ”she confesses.

In his search for perfection, the next stop this week sends him to his talisman course, Torrey Pines, where he won his first professional tournament, the 2017 Farmers, and the 2021 US Open. Barrika's

wants more minutes in TV.

Why the best is not number one

In March last year, 25-year-old American Scottie Scheffler rose to world number one after holding three titles in a month and a half.

Rahm has won four of the last six tournaments he has played, he has been eighth in the Hero World Challenge and fourth in the CJ Cup, and in his last 10 events he has only been out of the top ten once.

And yet, the acceleration has barely helped the Spaniard to surpass Australian Cameron Smith on the third step of the podium, who has not scored for the ranking since August when he emigrated to the Saudi league.

Ahead, Rory McIlroy and Scheffler. 

Rahm's slow progress up the world rankings is due to recent changes to the making of this list.

The main modification is that the minimum number of points that were distributed to the winners of each tournament depending on the circuit has been withdrawn.

Today a new system calculates the score of each appointment and the importance of the ranking of its participants is less.

Rahm has come to describe the new gear as "laughable". 

The Basque was world number one for 43 weeks, ranked 12th on a list created in 1986 and which Tiger led for 683 weeks.

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