This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
To say that everyone but Jon Rahm on a U.S. Open leaderboard for the ages faltered late on Sunday might be accurate. But not exactly fair.
Because when you birdie the 71st and 72nd holes to capture a major championship, it's all about you winning it as opposed to others losing it. Rahm was the only one of some half-dozen Hall of Fame names to play the back-nine under par at his beloved Torrey Pines.
One by one, Rory McIlroy (3-over on the back), Collin Morikawa (2-over), Brooks Koepka (1-over), Bryson DeChambeau (8-over!) and, ultimately, Louis Oosthuizen (disastrous bogey on 17) made critical, tournament-altering mistakes. Maybe the biggest testament to Rahm is to say that the one-time meltdown king was the coolest, most-collected guy in the room.
That allowed him to claim his first major title, to regain the No. 1 ranking in the world and, most importantly, will likely open the door to more majors now that the barrier has been lifted.
Is Rahm the best golfer in the world, and the one who will win the most majors over the next few years? Maybe. Probably. Recency bias would surely say yes, as it always does. But it's far from clear-cut. There simply are too many big names bunched very close together. In fact, Rahm's third tenure as No. 1 could be even briefer than his first two, which lasted two weeks each last summer. Dustin Johnson can regain the top spot this week at the Travelers Championship, while
To say that everyone but Jon Rahm on a U.S. Open leaderboard for the ages faltered late on Sunday might be accurate. But not exactly fair.
Because when you birdie the 71st and 72nd holes to capture a major championship, it's all about you winning it as opposed to others losing it. Rahm was the only one of some half-dozen Hall of Fame names to play the back-nine under par at his beloved Torrey Pines.
One by one, Rory McIlroy (3-over on the back), Collin Morikawa (2-over), Brooks Koepka (1-over), Bryson DeChambeau (8-over!) and, ultimately, Louis Oosthuizen (disastrous bogey on 17) made critical, tournament-altering mistakes. Maybe the biggest testament to Rahm is to say that the one-time meltdown king was the coolest, most-collected guy in the room.
That allowed him to claim his first major title, to regain the No. 1 ranking in the world and, most importantly, will likely open the door to more majors now that the barrier has been lifted.
Is Rahm the best golfer in the world, and the one who will win the most majors over the next few years? Maybe. Probably. Recency bias would surely say yes, as it always does. But it's far from clear-cut. There simply are too many big names bunched very close together. In fact, Rahm's third tenure as No. 1 could be even briefer than his first two, which lasted two weeks each last summer. Dustin Johnson can regain the top spot this week at the Travelers Championship, while Rahm plays with his newborn son and replies to 4 gazillion text messages.
With Johnson at age 36 to Rahm's 26, it's certainly fair to say that Rahm has far more upside than DJ in just about any metric. But opposite some of the other top golfers, it's debatable. Justin Turner is 28, Bryson DeChambeau is 27, Collin Morikawa is 24 -- each with one major -- while Brooks Koepka at 31 and Rory McIlroy at 32 are sitting at four apiece. Oh, and then there's a 27-year-old, three-time major champion by the name of Jordan Spieth. Xander Schauffele, also 27, probably doesn't belong in the conversation yet, as he's never won a major.
Then again, 24 hours ago Rahm never had won a major either.
Maybe the best indicator in Rahm's favor is his consistency. It's remarkable how week-in and week-out he amasses top-10s – in regular Tour events and majors. Johnson, Thomas, DeChambeau and McIlroy have all been wildly inconsistent; Koepka shows up barely four times a year; Spieth just returned from a four-year hiatus. Morikawa may come closest to that consistency, though there's an argument to be made for Schauffele -- how else can you be a top-5 golfer without winning for two and a half years?
Another type of consistency pointing in Rahm's direction is how balanced his game is. Tee-to-green, he is elite. The stats also say he's a good-not-great putter. But when you sink 25- and 18-footers for birdie on the two most important holes of your life … well, there's no need to finish that sentence.
DeChambeau and Koepka -- despite their strong desire to not be in the same sentence together -- are also great or near-great across all strokes-gained categories. So might be Schauffele, though the jury is out now that he's amid a putting lifestyle change.
Yes, it certainly appears that Rahm has the most going for him going forward. We do need to remember that this win came in his favorite city -- it reminds him of where he grew up in Spain, he said -- at perhaps his favorite course and on poa annua greens that not many golfers love but he does. Really, if he wasn't going to win a major at Torrey Pines, where would he? Other than that, the big takeaway was his temperament from Thursday morning all the way through Sunday night. It was a non-story for four days, meaning it might've been the biggest story of the week.
"I believe becoming a dad was always going to help me because before, I could always have the excuse that getting mad helped me out, helped me win golf tournaments, but right now I'm a role model to my son. I'm going to be, as I am to many kids out there," Rahm said.
"Now I understand what I can do, and I know I can perform at my best without showing my frustration so much. I made that deal with myself after the third round of the PGA. I wasn't happy with how I ended, and I could have handled it better, and I vowed to myself to be a better role model for my son.
"He won't remember any of this because he's only 10 weeks old, but I do. Hopefully in the future, he can grow up to be someone who's proud of his dad. I hope I can provide that example."
None of this is a guarantee there won't be future heated moments, but it sounds as if there won't be -- which is just one more thing in Rahm's favor.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Louis Oosthuizen
Even with Rahm making those two putts, Oosthuizen was still in a great position to win or at least get to a playoff -- until he hit terrible drives on 17 and 18, the first one going out of bounds. It shows how slim the margin between first and second place is. Nobody knows that better than Oosthuizen, who now has six major runners-up, including two in a row. He really is one of the best in majors in his generation, even though he's won only one. He'll be in the conversation next month at Royal St. George's.
Bryson DeChambeau
The full gamut of DeChambeau was on display on Sunday and all week: magnificent highs and mind-boggling lows. After 27 bogey-free holes on the weekend, he blew up on the back-nine with two bogeys, a double and a quad to plummet from the lead into a tie for 26th. "The worst nine holes of his professional career" is how Paul Azinger described it. DeChambeau didn't blatantly lose his composure, but just like Rahm he needs to find a way to stay more "level" on the course. Because he has even more talent than Rahm.
Rory McIlroy
One day we may look back and say, "It's amazing he never won another major." McIlroy finally sidestepped his usual Thursday major crash but instead saved it for late on Sunday to end in a tie for seventh. At this point, it does seem more mental with him than the golf, though there were some pretty bad shots on display, too.
Collin Morikawa
We've said it before: If he could putt only a little bit, how high could he reach? Morikawa tied for fourth, four shots back. He led the field in greens in regulation but was 47th in putting average. It's agonizing watching him stand eternally over short putts.
Brooks Koepka
Koepka didn't close the deal, but he showed once again that when healthy he is a threat in any major. He tied for fourth. And that was with three bogeys in his final seven holes (to go along with two birdies). Maybe he actually felt some pressure.
Harris English
Unlike all the other guys, English never had a chance to win. But he crept in late to finish solo third – giving him back-to-back top-5s at the U.S. Open. He's only 31 in this career renaissance of a season, and there does not appear to be a weakness in his game. He is now ranked 19th in the world.
Guido Migliozzi
The little-known Italian now has finished 2-2-4 in his past three starts, though his tie for fourth at the U.S. Open was infinitely more impressive than back-to-back European Tour runners-up. He's now a career-best 72nd in the world and has accepted a berth in this week's Travelers on the basis of finishing in the top-10.
Russell Henley and Mackenzie Hughes
They were tied for the lead with Oosthuizen entering Sunday – Henley had led pretty much the whole tournament – but they both faded. We bunched them here because they both really had no business being anywhere near the lead in a major. That doesn't mean they're not top-50-60ish golfers. But they showed their true colors on Sunday, that the moment was too large, with Henley shooting 5-over to tie for 13th and Hughes a 6-over to tie for 15th.
Matthew Wolff
Hardly anything was expected of a player who admittedly had been emotionally troubled and unhappy over the past few months. Wolff hadn't even played since being DQed at the Masters. But he clearly used his time off wisely. He appeared to be a new person, enjoying himself on the golf course and being near the lead for two days. Wolff's weekend wasn't great – he ended up tied for 15th – but that was secondary to his new-found healthy mind-set. He'll try to keep it going this week at the Travelers.
Richard Bland
What a story he was for 2 ½ days. The 48-year-old Englishman who recently won for the first time on the European Tour in his 478th start began the weekend in the final pairing. But the lights obviously got too bright. He had five bogeys on the back-nine on Saturday en route to a 77, then shot 78 on Sunday to tumble into a tie for 50th. There would be no second-old-guy-in-a-row winning a major. But Bland will always have this moment in the sun.
Phil Mickelson
Speaking of old guys winning majors, this one would've been even bigger than winning the PGA. But Mickelson never contended. He did fight, though – and succeed – in making the cut with a Friday 69. He has the guile and major experience and still enough game to make the cut in lots of majors. He wound up tied for 62nd.
Garrick Higgo
The Palmetto winner the week before the Open, Higgo missed the cut. It was an entirely possible result, not only because it was the week after winning his biggest tournament ever but because those types of ups and downs happen to 22-year-olds. Let's see how he rebounds this week at the Travelers.
Will Zalatoris, Tony Finau and Justin Rose
These three missing the cut might have been the biggest stunners over the first two days (along with Bland). They all had had great recent track records in majors. Finau had always been great at Torrey Pines. Rose was a recent winner there.
Ryan Palmer
Palmer has had great success at the Farmers with runners-up two of the past four years. But he had had a terrible track record at the U.S. Open and in majors. He missed the cut badly. Majors are just different, as Palmer so vividly showed, no matter the course history.
Jason Kokrak
He's won twice on Tour this season so it may not sound possible, but he looks overwhelmed in majors -- the stages seem to be too large for him. After finishing 49th at both the Masters and PGA, he missed the cut at Torrey Pines. The normally sound ball-striker ranked 124th in the field in greens in regulation. Terrible.
Viktor Hovland
It certainly was bizarre that Hovland had to withdraw mid-round on Friday after getting sand in his eye that simply would not go away. There's no indication this will be a long-term issue, but we'll wait and see. Hovland is not in the field in this week's Travelers.
