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DUBLIN, Ohio – A procession to victory just wouldn’t have been the Spanish way.
Jon Rahm rode a final round rollercoaster to secure the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village in true Spanish style by surviving some tricky short game shots, a two-shot penalty, and the evaporation of a huge lead.
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His idol Seve Ballesteros would have been proud. And believe it or not, despite the heart palpitations, Rahm wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sure he could have kept the incredible eight-shot lead he held over his Zurich Classic of New Orleans partner Ryan Palmer at the turn and ensured the last nine holes was a casual waltz to his golf destiny. But where’s the fun in that?
Ballesteros was a maestro when things got tough, finding ways to escape from trouble. Rahm needed some of the same magic on Sunday at a brutal Muirfield Village that played hard and fast in swift winds.
The 25-year-old had seen his eight shot lead drop to three shots when he and Palmer stood on the 15th tee. He was bleeding, momentum against him. Surely he couldn’t possibly let it slip … but then he had done so on the last two occasions he held the 54-hole lead.
But despite the fact his accuracy on approach continued to desert him, Rahm focused in hard. He refused to surrender to the internal demons and got up and down for clutch pars on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes and chipped in for what was initially considered a birdie on the 16th hole only for a two-shot penalty to be added after the fact.
Rahm had inadvertently made the ball move as he addressed the shot and hadn’t replaced it, turning his score into a bogey. Thankfully it mattered not. The magic had lasted long enough to stay three shots up and give Rahm a fourth PGA TOUR title, securing his ascension to world No. 1 on the way. He is just the second Spaniard, behind Ballesteros, to hold that status.
“One of the best performances of my life,” Rahm said afterwards. “Yesterday was probably one of the best rounds of my life and finished today with some clutch up-and-downs. And as a Spaniard, I’m kind of glad it happened that way. Every shot counts, and I tried every shot and got those two last up-and-downs, as a true Spaniard would.
“My short game has been unbelievable all week. It’s been so good, and I’ve gotten close to chipping in a couple times. You always hear about people saying champions make it happen, and at that point I made it happen.”
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Source: PGA tour