Jon Rahm – file photo
A stunning final round of 63 has seen Jon Rahm come from seven shots off the 54 hole lead and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions by two over long-time leader, Collin Morikawa with a further two shots back to Tom Hoge and Max Homa.
After being twice runner-up in five previous starts in the event at Kapalua on Maui, it was perhaps justice for the still only 28 year old Spaniard who will remain in 5th place in the World Ranking despite the win.
To add further lustre to his win, Rahm was forced to overcome a bogey at his very first hole before unleashing five birdies in his next eight holes to turn in 32 and then added four birdies and an eagle on the way home to sweep past a faltering Morikawa who had led or co-led from his opening 64.
Morikawa still led with five holes to go but bogeys at the 14th 15th and 16th and Rahm’s brilliant finish which included an eagle from ten feet at the 16th saw the lead change and although Morikawa birdied the last it was all a case of too little too late.
“You never want to see somebody have a bad day down the stretch,” said Rahm. “But I feel like with that lead he had I needed to play really good and he needed to make a couple mistakes.
“Obviously everything turned with that run on 12, 13, 14 and making that eagle putt on 15. At that point I got in the thick of things and never did I think that going into my third shot on 17 I was going to have a one-shot lead.
“That’s when I had to change a bit of the mindset of chasing and needing birdies to, All right, let’s get this up-and-down, hopefully birdie 18 and give ourselves the best chance.
“Last year, I feel like I played an amazing tournament, I could have won it. To come back this year and shoot a very low score again, I mean, I’m what, 60-under par in these last two tournaments? (Laughing.) It would have been tough to shoot that low twice and not win it. So I’m glad I had the chance and I’m glad I did it.”
Rahm was referring to the 33 under par he recorded 12 months ago only to lose to Cameron Smith.
Morikawa was burned by the demise and said as much when asked his thoughts after the round.
“Sadness. I don’t know. It sucks,” he said. “You work so hard and you give yourself these opportunities and just bad timing on bad shots and kind of added up really quickly.
Don’t know what I’m going to learn from this week, but it just didn’t seem like it was that far off. It really wasn’t. Yeah, it sucks.”
Adam Scott was the only Australian in the field and finished in 29th place amongst the field of 38 who finished the event.
The PGA Tour now moves to Honolulu for the traditional follow up to the Tournament of Champions where Scott will be joined by fellow Australians Aaron Baddeley, Cam Davis, Harrison Endycott and New Zealander Danny Lee.
