Jon Rahm: Spain's world number one destined for golfing greatness

Jon Rahm holed a huge birdie putt on the 14th as he held off the challenge of Max Homa in Los Angeles

In a sport notorious for offering very few guarantees, it still feels fair to bet that Spain's Jon Rahm is destined for golfing greatness.

With his thrilling victory at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, the 28-year-old claimed his 10th PGA Tour win to nudge ahead of his late, great compatriot Severiano Ballesteros.

Of course, in different times Ballesteros had far fewer opportunities for success on the American circuit, but Rahm's current rate of progress is astonishing and even earning comparisons with 15-times major winner Tiger Woods.

"He is a spectacular golfer," said Max Homa after being beaten into second place by the Basque golfer at famed Riviera on Sunday.

"I would say other than Tiger, he's the most consistent player I've seen. I've known him since college and he's been like this since then, number one amateur in the world, number one player in the world, all the accolades."

This was Rahm's fifth win in his past nine starts; his third victory from his most recent half dozen events. He has banked prize money of nearly $10m in 2023 alone and is currently 93 under par for the still fledgling year.

The revamped world rankings are in a state of flux but there can be no arguing with his return to the top of the tree, succeeding Rory McIlroy and then Scottie Scheffler - whose reign after winning in Phoenix has been limited to a single week.

"The guy's incredible," Homa added. "Rory, Jon and Scottie are kind of in a league of their own at times and it's just our job to go catch them."

Rahm was vexed at the end of last year when his November victory at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, his second victory in three weeks, did not result in a climb from number five in the world.

The man who is back on top of the standings knows exactly what he is achieving at the moment.

"I don't need a ranking to tell me - to validate anything," he said.

As for comparisons with Woods - who had won 39 PGA Tour events, including eight majors, by the time he turned 28 on 30 December 2003 - the thoughtful Rahm again knows where he sits in the pecking order.

"How many times had he done this at the age of 28?" Rahm observed. "It's absolutely incredible.

"I've been able to match a very small aspect of it and hopefully I can keep doing a lot of great things this year to put my name up there to one of his years.

"But the fact that he was able to do it year after year after year including swing changes and golf style changes, it's pretty remarkable.

"I've been able to appreciate Tiger for a very long time and admire him, but it's taken me six years as a professional to get to this point."

Rahm's big challenge is to convert this imperious form into major victories. Again, very few guarantees, but Riviera with its demanding design, firm greens and quality of field is a pretty reliable indicator for the biggest events, particularly the Masters.

Four of the leading 10 at the LA layout last year finished top eight at Augusta a couple of months later, including the winner Scheffler and runner-up McIlroy.

Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Mike Weir can all discuss Riviera wins while sitting at Scheffler's Augusta champions dinner during Masters week.

With one major to his name - the 2021 US Open - Rahm will inevitably feel a burden of expectation when the big four career defining tournaments roll around - starting with the Masters in April.

He is reaping rewards of incremental improvements that made him statistically the best in approach play in California last week as well as in the leading dozen for driving and putting.

His temperament is improving. He is better adept at holding in check previously combustible character traits.

"I've been extremely disciplined my whole career, but right now I'm seeing the dividends of a lot of the hard work," Rahm said.

"Obviously when you're playing good it's really fun and when you're winning tournaments, extremely fun, but you've got to enjoy the tough moments as well."

And he is ready to revel in a rivalry with European Ryder Cup team-mate McIlroy and opponent Scheffler. "It's the beauty of the era that we're living right now," he smiled. "It's exciting for us to play and exciting for the golf fans."

There can be little doubt that the PGA Tour has provided a spectacular start to the year with big names so prominent. Rahm was sensational down the stretch on Sunday night, including a memorable near hole in one with an 8-iron on the 16th.

The Saudi Arabian-funded LIV circuit begins its second season in Mexico this week and despite its massive investment, it will have to establish a very special product (team or otherwise) to emerge from the shadows.

LIV is expected to announce Belgium's Thomas Pieters (a significant loss to the DP World Tour), Kiwi Danny Lee and US journeyman Brendan Steele as new recruits.

Viktor Hovland has also been courted and recently said "nothing is ruled out". This will cause disquiet among PGA Tour and European Tour bosses because the Norwegian is an outstanding talent.

Nevertheless, they must be delighted to have Rahm as a committed member of the status quo. As the man of the moment says: "I'm having the best season of my life and hopefully I can keep it going."