Torrey Pines is capable of humanizing even Jon Rahm. The very tough course of San Diego (California, USA) has been the private garden of the Basque, who there achieved his first victory on the PGA Tour (2017) and his first major (US Open 2021).
Everything seemed scripted so that Rahmbo, after his assault on second place in the third round, achieved his third consecutive victory last night and, furthermore, regained the lead in the world ranking. However, that same route that Barrika’s man has managed to tame so many times was very cruel to him yesterday.
The final victory went to the Californian Max Homa (-13), the fourth in his home state, while Jon had to settle for seventh place (-8).
Jon Rahm results
Third week of competition for Rahm in 2023, and the third time he has started with a chance of victory.
After his victories in the Tournament of Champions and in The American Express, the Spanish golfer returned to the fight for a new title after an exquisite third round. In an atypical scenario, with the last day being played on a Saturday so as not to coincide with the NFL playoffs, Rahmbo suffered from the outset.
He started in second position, just two strokes behind a Sam Ryder who was aspiring to his first championship on the North American circuit. After the first hole, the distance had increased to four shots due to a bogey from Jon and a birdie from Ryder.
It took more than necessary for the Spaniard to get into rhythm, being very unsuccessful with the putt (and unlucky in those who shot well). Most of the chances of victory vanished on the 5th hole. After going into the bunker off the tee, Jon missed the green and it took him three strokes to get the ball out of the dense rough at Torrey Pines.
Double bogey and free fall in a classification in which they added candidates: Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa appeared… Rahm was moving away from the head, and he needed again a miracle like the one that worked in the Tournament of Champions.
But this time it was not like that. Ryder just didn’t make mistakes, while Jon was still unhinged. He didn’t even cheer for the birdie at 6, quickly erased with a bogey at 7. The Spaniard was fully into his favorite course, and the numerous errors he made with the left-hand driver drew attention.
He minimally fixed his letter in the final stretch, already out of the fight for victory, to finish the last day in 74 strokes, two over par (his worst round of his in the edition), for a total of -8. Ryder, for his part, began to feel the pressure of a possible first PGA Tour victory and fell apart in the second half of the round.
When he faced the 9th hole, Max Homa had already hunted him down after a sensational start from the Californian, who put up five shots from behind. Homa, who since the beginning of 2021 has won five titles on the North American circuit (a figure equaled only by Rory McIlroy), remained calm at all times, while Ryder collapsed on the 15th hole, where he committed a double bogey that buried his options. .
Homa’s win (-13 and a 6-under final day) marks the sixth in the 32-year-old’s career, who has exploded in recent seasons. He has an idyll with California, similar to that of Jon Rahm, and that is that four of his six victories have been in the state where he was born.
The Farmers Insurance Open is the second title this season for the American (he won the Fortinet Championship), which is second in the FedExCup, just 17 points behind Jon Rahm. Rahmbo’s last push was not enough to achieve the second big goal he had this weekend: to regain the number one in the world.
The ‘Lion of Barrika’ needed to finish in the top three of the event, but the final -8 only earned him seventh position, so Rory McIlroy will maintain his lead in the OWGR. Despite falling short on the last day, Jon maintains his great record at Torrey Pines (seven top-7s or better in eight starts) and in any competition in recent months: he has accumulated eight consecutive top-10s, with four victories between them .
This time, Rahmbo did not bite metal in his private garden, but he showed again that he has a lot to say in 2023.
