The 2021 U.S. Open was a nailbiter towards the end. At one point during the major, there were 10 golfers that were within one shot of the lead. Spanish professional golfer and former number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Jon Rahm, went -4 in the final round to finish six under in the tournament, one shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen.
Jon Rahm claimed his first ever major championship for the first time and became the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open. With the major victory, he regained his spot at the top as the world’s number 1 golfer. Rahm had quite a bumpy journey before winning his first major.
The Beginning
Jon Rahm was born on Nov 10, 1994 in Barrika, Basque Country, Spain. With an early start to golf, in 2010, Rahm won the Spanish/Junior Boys Championship, followed by the 2011 Copa Baleares, Campeonato de Madrid Absoluto. Rahm received a golf scholarship and attended Arizona State University.
During his time in college, he won 11 collegiate golf tournaments. That achievement is second in school history as he was only behind Phil Mickelson’s 16 collegiate wins. During his junior year, he competed in the 2015 Phoenix Open as an amateur where he finished tied for fifth. In that year, Rahm was the No. 1 ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He had a total of 60 weeks spent atop the ranking and is the all-time record.
In 2015, Rahm won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, which qualified him for the following year’s U.S. Open and Open Championship. As a low amateur at the 2016 U.S. Open, he finished his final tournament as an amateur in a tie for 23rd.
Professional Career
The Start Of Jon Rahm's PGA Career
After the 2016 U.S. Open, Rahm turned professional and played in his first event as a professional the following week at the Quicken Loans National and finished tied for third place. Rahm finished off the year well with enough points as a non-member to earn a PGA Tour card for 2017.
In January 2017, Rahm won his first PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, with an incredible 60-foot eagle putt on the final hole! With that win, he soared from 137th to 46th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and also gained entry into multiple big events:
Amazing Career Without A Major Championship... YET
Since 2017, Rahmbo has won multiple PGA Tour and European Tour events
PGA Tour Wins:
- 2017 Farmers Insurance Open
- 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge
- 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
- 2020 Memorial Tournament
- 2020 BMW Championship
European Tour Wins:
- 2017, 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
- 2017, 2019 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai
- 2018, 2019 Open de España
Besides the tour wins that Rahm has in his bag, he was the 2017 European Tour Rookie of the Year as he finished as the highest-ranked rookie in the Race to Dubai. Furthermore in 2018, Rahm qualified for his first appearance on the European team participating in the 2018 Ryder Cup. They went on to win the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National outside of Paris, France.
In 2019, defended his championship at both the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open as well as the Open de España. Towards the end of the year, Rahm won the season-long Race to Dubai title on the European Tour with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. He cemented himself by winning the European Tour Golfer of the Year award in 2019.
Throughout his career up until 2020, he has numerous high finishes just short of victory placing in the top 10s. From 2018 until 2020, Rahm has made 8 out of 12 cuts in the major events. In 5 of those events, Rahm managed to secure the top 10 spot. After winning the Memorial Tournament on 19 July, 2020, Rahm was officially the World No. 1 golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings. He was the second Spaniard after Seve Ballesteros to be number one in the world. However, it only lasted two weeks and was overtaken by Justin Thomas after Thomas won the 2020 WGC-FedEx St.Jude Invitational.
Rahmbo-ing Into 2021 And A Major Championship
The year started with big news as Jon Rahm announced he had signed a multi-year agreement with Callaway Golf Company. After a three-plus year deal with TaylorMade he has decided to switch up and move to Callaway. He plays the prototype woods and irons, Callaway wedges, Chrome Soft X Ball and an Odyssey Putter.
Leading up to the major, in June, Rahm was playing in the Memorial Tournament as the defending champion. After completing the third round at the Memorial Tournament, Rahmbo was in the lead 6 strokes ahead of the second. Unfortunately, the defending champion was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test. Rahm was in the form of his career at that point in time and was a favorite to win the Memorial Tournament.
U.S. Open 2021
Rahm went through a period of self-isolation due to the COVID-19 contraction and had limited preparations for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. However, this did not affect his excellent golfing form. At 26 years old, Rahm became the first Spaniard to capture America’s national championship with a pair of electrifying birdie putts on the 71st and 72nd holes. He won by the slimmest of margins with only one stroke over Louis Oosthuizen who was playing amazing golf throughout the major.
Rahm was the world No. 3 golfer at that time and started the final round as one of 13 players within four shots of the lead. These 13 players were also at the top of their game and proven winners. As one after another fell out of contention, Rahm remained steady with his effective up and down until the final holes. Trailing Oosthuizen by one shot, Rahm made an amazing 25 foot birdie on the 17th for birdie. On the following and final hole, Rahm got up and down from a greenside bunker. He sunk an 18-foot birdie putt for a one-shot lead on the same green where he made a 60-foot eagle to win his first PGA title four years before.
Summary for Jon Rahm’s First Major Championship Win
It was a sweet sweet victory for Rahm. He has proven that he is amongst the top golfers in the world. Truly an elite competitor. What made it more sweet was the course that he played on, Torrey Pines. Rahm proposed to his wife on that course, won his first ever major there and his newborn baby was in attendance on Father’s Day. An awesome win for the Rahmbo. He’s still young and you can see that he is hungry as ever for more wins under his belt. Do not sleep on Jon Rahm, also known as Rahmbo, one of the best golfers in the world currently. No doubt he will have more major wins in the upcoming years.
Other young golfers on the PGA Tour with amazing talent includes Jordan Spieth. He made an amazing comeback in the year 2021, read more about Jordan Spieth here. Wondering how golf foster romances? It's a sweet story about how Rahm proposed to his wife at the very course where he won his first major. Here's an article on Why Golf Is Like A Good Romance.
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