Jon Rahm: I don’t need rankings to tell me I’m World No 1
The Spaniard is once again officially the best player in the world. Not that he requires validation after a ridiculous run of form
It was a long time coming, but Jon Rahm has finally returned to the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings after winning for the third time this season.
His performance at the Genesis Invitational was typical of his scintillating form in 2023 as he notched his fifth win in his last nine starts worldwide.
He has returned to World No 1 for the first time since March 2022 and he has removed any doubt as to who the best player on the planet is.
The 28-year-old hasn’t held back in his criticism of the OWGR in recent months. He described the rankings as laughable at the DP World Tour Championship in November.
He saw Scottie Scheffler replace Rory McIlroy at the top of the pile at the WM Phoenix Open, but the Spaniard’s 10th PGA Tour win has taken him to a place where he thinks he belongs.
“I don’t get to World No 1 at this point, I don’t really care,” Rahm said. “I’ve won five out of my last nine starts, I haven’t finished worse than the top seven and I’ve won three tournaments already.
“I don’t need a ranking to tell me – to validate anything, right? Having the best season of my life and hopefully, I can keep it going.
“I said it before, for the ranking to be accurate, we’re going to have to wait about a year and a half for all those points to kind of, I don’t know if recycle is the right word, but for the people that earned points before they changed the system for everything to even out.
“I’m also right on what I said earlier in the year. I mean – if I get to No 1, I’m the third player to be No 1 in the world in what, just over a month and a half?
“You know, it’s the beauty of the year that we’re living right now, it’s exciting for us to play and exciting for the golf fans because things like this can happen.”
Jon Rahm won the Genesis Invitational with the new Callaway Paradym driver and fairway woods in his bag. Check out our reviews of the full range to see how we got on.
Rahm overcame the impressive Max Homa in a memorable battle at Riviera which he ultimately won with a superb birdie on the 14th hole and a near hole-in-one on the 16th too.
Homa won the Genesis Invitational in 2021 and gave an emotional interview after missing out on the trophy this time around. The American is no longer out of place when competing at the top of PGA Tour leaderboards.
The Genesis Invitational was the third designated event of the PGA Tour season and this showed with Rahm, Homa, Patrick Cantlay and Will Zalatoris at the top of the leaderboard.
It is not only the number of wins that stand out on Rahm’s record but the fields which he is beating too. He toppled a strong lineup at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January when he chased down Collin Morikawa.
Tiger Woods handed over the winner’s trophy to add another nice touch to a victory that Rahm enjoyed with his wife and children afterwards.
Woods couldn’t quite find the magic needed to contend in Los Angeles, but Rahm is doing his best to mirror the rampant form that the 15-time major champion was once capable of.
“I think he was able to win three in a row 14 times if I’m correct. He had how many seasons
with five-plus wins,” Rahm added. “Between 19999 and 2000 he had I think it was, what was it, 17 wins, four majors. That is alone better than 99.9 percent of any professional’s career ever.
“I mean, it’s pretty incredible. I’ve been able to match a very small aspect of it and hopefully, I can keep doing a lot of great things this year to put my name up there to one of his years.
“But the fact that he was able to do it year after year after year including swing changes and golf style changes, it’s pretty remarkable.”
How long will Jon Rahm stay at World No 1? Tweet me and let me know!
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Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spent time with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
