Jon Rahm is leaving Hawaii as an unexpected champion…
The 28-year-old Spanish professional golfer left Maui with the Tournament of Champions trophy following the collapse in play of Collin Morikawa.
Rahm started the final round of the tournament seven shots behind. He bogeyed his first hole. He was six shots back at the turn to Morikawa, who had yet to make a bogey the entire week at Kapalua Plantation Course.
“Bit of a crazy day, I’m not going to lie,” Rahm said.
A wild hour featured a seven-shot swing in four holes when Rahm ran off three straight birdies and an eagle, and Morikawa, playing two groups behind him, made three straight bogeys on holes the rest of the field collectively played in 44-under par.
It ended with Rahm making one last birdie for a 10-under 63 and a two-shot win over Morikawa (72), who went from a sure victory to a footnote in PGA Tour history as the ninth player to lose a six-shot lead going into the final round.
“It’s going to hurt, but I’ve got to get over it because we’re still in the very early parts of the season,” Morikawa said.
So began the bold new year on the PGA Tour of elevated tournaments that average $20 million in prize money in a bid to bring the best together more often and reward them amid the challenge of Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Rahm is riding a big wave, winning for the third time in his past five starts worldwide.
“In my mind, I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world,” he said.
Rahm finished at 27-under 265, and it was a small measure of redemption. Last year he finished at 33-under par at Kapalua, which was a PGA Tour record that lasted only a few seconds.
Rahm now is 60 under in his past two appearances at Kapalua. The victory was his ninth on the PGA Tour and 17th worldwide, and assures he will be back on Maui to start 2024.
He won $2.7 million from the $15 million purse at Kapalua, the first of the “elevated” events on the PGA Tour schedule. He also gets 25% of his Player Impact Program bonus money — he finished No. 5 in the PIP for $6 million.
The Spaniard now has won in each of his seven full years on the PGA.
