Rahm brushes off rules blip to down DJ with play-off putt that needs to be seen to be believed
Alex Perry wraps up the weekend’s tour action
Jon Rahm started the final day of the BMW Championship hoping he didn’t lose by a single stroke. He ended up winning in the most extraordinary finish at Olympia Fields.
Rahm was caught up in a rare and bizarre rules incident on Saturday that saw him hit with a one-shot penalty.
He went on to have back-to-back rounds of the day, weekend scores of 66 and 64 enough to give him the clubhouse lead at 4-under-par.
Coming down the 18th, Dustin Johnson needed birdie to force a play-off. After finding the rough, the World No 1 left himself with a lengthy birdie putt. Then he did this…
So it was back to 18 and Rahm, having also found the rough off the tee, left himself 66 feet for birdie. He couldn’t, could he?
He could.
It’s Rahm’s second PGA Tour title of 2020 and fifth overall.
DJ can take comfort in the fact that his solo 2nd finish means he’ll cling on to top spot in the rankings. Anything lower would have seen the Spaniard return to the summit in what has been a fascinating battle to be the best in the world.
- Related: What’s in Rahm’s bag?
- Related: Rahm’s bizarre penalty incident
Here’s the 30 players that will move on to East Lake – though this may get trimmed to 29 after Rory McIlroy’s news.
- Dustin Johnson
- Jon Rahm
- Justin Thomas
- Webb Simpson
- Collin Morikawa
- Daniel Berger
- Harris English
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sungjae Im
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Brendon Todd
- Rory McIlroy
- Patrick Reed
- Xander Schauffele
- Sebastián Muñoz
- Lanto Griffin
- Scottie Scheffler
- Joaquin Niemann
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Tony Finau
- Kevin Kisner
- Abraham Ancer
- Ryan Palmer
- Kevin Na
- Marc Leishman
- Cameron Smith
- Viktor Hovland
- Mackenzie Hughes
- Cameron Champ
- Billy Horschel
- Related: McIlroy may skip Tour Championship
Hojgaard continues to impress
What were you doing when you were 19? Rasmus Hojgaard isn’t even 20 until March and he’s already won twice on the European Tour, adding the inaugural UK Championship to his Mauritius Open title from December.
Hojgaard came from five back to finish level with Justin Walters on 14-under-par at The Belfry before going on to beat the South African at the second play-off hole.
The Dane was the first player to born in the 21st century to make it through Qualifying School and now becomes just the second player to win two European Tour titles while still in his teens.
Hojgaard, who will head to Winged Foot for his major debut at the US Open in three weeks, also won the UK Swing mini Order of Merit.
Oh, and his twin brother is pretty good, too.
- Related: What’s in Hojgaard’s bag?
And Pedersen makes it two
It was double delight for Denmark as, over in Prague, Emily Pedersen was doing this to win the Czech Ladies Open…
Speaking of incredible putts, Austin Ernst didn’t quite hole this monster at the NWA Championship, but she tapped in for a 63 to finish at 20-under-par and a two-shot win over Anna Nordqvist.
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Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
