This victory marks the eighth title of the Spaniard’s career on the PGA Tour
“If you tell me after the ‘bogey’ that I would do this, I don’t know if I would believe you,” he said after winning
The Spanish jon rahm came back from seven shots behind this Sunday, nine of them in the last 17 holesand was crowned champion of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, in Kapalúa (Hawaii), with two shots ahead of the American Collin Morikawa.
Rahm finished the last round with an excellent ten under par, for a total of -27 over the four days, and took advantage of Morikawa’s downturn, who chained three consecutive ‘bogeys’ between holes fourteen and 16, the first of his tournament, which cost him the title.
The Spaniard was crowned with the eighth title of his career on the PGA Tourthe first of 2023, which allowed him to extend his streak with at least one title per season to seven.
It was an extraordinary comeback for Rahm, even more so after start the fourth round with a ‘bogey’ that left him nine shots from a Morikawa until that perfect moment.
Because the American faced the last round without having made any mistake in 54 holes and he was still without fail at 67, which seemed to put his victory in Hawaii on track.
Rahm did not lose his lucidity and decided to go step by step, trying to pick up the pace and finish the tournament well, without focusing on his ambitions for victory.
“If you tell me after the ‘bogey’ that I would do this, I don’t know if I would believe you.but at that moment you don’t think about winning, you just have to work and make ‘birdies’ to pick up the pace”, acknowledged the Spaniard at the end of the tournament.
And he did it superbly. He achieved four ‘birdies’ in the next five holes and chained three birdies and an ‘eagle’ between twelve and fifteen. It was at that moment that he realized that his horizons could change and that an impossible comeback became possible.
“The fifteenth hole is when it all came true,” Rahm said.
Morikawa, impeccable until the thirteenth hole, he lost lucidity after his first mistake, in the fourteenth, and chained ‘bogeys’ in the fifteenth and in the 16th that made him lose command.
Rahm, already unstoppable, closed his round with a ‘birdie’ in the 18th and he only had to wait for Morikawa, mentally sunk, to complete his round to have the official title.
His tournament ends with four rounds under par: 64 in the first, which gave him the lead alongside Morikawa and JJ Spaun, 71 in the second, 67 in the third, before a staggering 63 this Sunday.
It had been 16 years since a player had been crowned in this tournament after finishing second in the previous edition. The last to do so was Fijian golfer Vijay Singh.
for rahm It is the first title in the Sentry Tournament of Champions and his comeback was the biggest after three rounds since 1978.
He ended up triumphing with two shots ahead of Morikawa and four on Tom Hoge and Max Soma. Six strokes away were Scottie Scheffler and the British Matthew Fitzpatrick. Much further behind were Will Zalatoris, eleventh, and Jordan Spieth, thirteenth.