While Rickie Fowler is widely regarded as the golfer most overdue a major championship victory, having drawn a blank in 40 attempts since his debut at the US Open in 2008, the current world rankings show that the best player currently without at least a ‘1’ beside his ‘Major Titles Won’ column is world no.2 Jon Rahm.
The 25-year-old Spaniard has only played in 14 majors, but already has four top-10s to his name and is widely tipped as the player most likely to break his major duck over the next five years.
Prior to golf’s sudden and very necessary shutdown in March, Rahm really did look like the second-best player in the world. At Torrey Pines at the end of January, he went head-to-head with world No.1 Rory McIlroy down the stretch at Farmers Insurance title only for Aussie Marc Leishman to sweep past the pair, leaving Rahm, who was the defending champion, in second.
One of the best ball strikers in the world, Rahm has an aggressive long game and a delicate touch on and around the greens that makes him match for almost every course on the circuit. Capable of reaching all but the longest par fives in two blows, and a decent performer on fast greens, his game is certainly well suited to Augusta National, where his three appearances to date have yielded finishes of 27th, 4th and 9th. With stats like that, there’s no doubting that the Masters represents one of his strongest chances of getting a major ‘W’ on his CV. For those that like betting on golf, odds of 14/1 for Rahm to slip on the green jacket in November 15 can be readily had, while golf fans can also check out the best online sportsbooks and their full range of offers for all the majors and other events.
While he has a fiery temperament and a reputation for blowing hot and cold, it has been now more than a year since Rahm made the cut but failed to finish in the top 20 – and he’s only missed three cuts, counterbalanced by three more titles. All of which points to a player who is proving to be a great closer. Remind you of anyone?
Still, it’s best to avoid comparisons with Tiger, and look to the next wave of players who’ve emerged since he did. Think about how long it took Phil Mickelson to win a major. Consider the fact that Dustin Johnson, the single most consistent collector of titles over the last 10 years, has won just one. Cast your mind back to how dominant Jason Day was, briefly, in 2015, and how likely it seemed that one major would become two, and two would become three. When Jordan Spieth won his third, a fourth appeared inevitable; now it’s anything but.
Rahm has built the best possible platform for success at the very highest level and, as with those above, his time will almost certainly come. Almost certainly. But just how likely is he to go on and win a major championship, given that you only get four goes a year (and just three in 2020)?
To me, Rahm winning two to three majors by the end of his career seems a likely number. I would be slightly more inclined to think he’d win four than one, but in a perverse way perhaps lean more to zero than five. It’s worth remembering that there are only 12 golfers since World War II who have won five or more majors. Ernie Els, a truly great player who suffered very few fitness interruptions at his peak, has four to his name.
Whatever the future holds, Jon Rahm is certainly one of the most exciting Spanish players to emerge on the professional circuit since Seve, and although he has a long, long, long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath, it’ll be fun, when golf returns, to watch him have a go.