Tiger Woods blesses Rahm: “He’s the best”

When Tiger Woods speak up, the golf world is listening. And the alien who transformed golf at the end of the last century spoke on Sunday during a tournament organized by his foundation, the Genesis Invitational:John [Rahm] He is the best in the world, and once again showed why. His heart, his determination and ability to fight are aspects we can learn from him. Please understand and respect how good this child is. He has just started his career and we are privileged to be able to see him.

Diagnosed with Tigre, winner of 15 thousand, legend still active at 47, new round John rahm to the leadership of the world ranking. The rise to number one was relativized by the protagonist, because it is nothing more than a consequence of a series of enormous results that began in Madrid with his victory at the Spanish Open, followed by eight more results among the top eight: fourth in the South Carolina CJ Cup, 1st in DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, 8th at Hero World in the Bahamas, 1st at the Sentry Tournament in Hawaii, 1st at American Express La Quinta, California, 7th at Farmers Insurance San Diego, 3rd at Waste Management in Phoenix, and 1st at Genesis in Los Angeles.

“If I wasn’t number one in the world I wouldn’t care. I’ve won five of the last nine tournaments, I haven’t fallen below seventh place and I’ve won three championships in 2023. I don’t need a ranking to validate what I’m doing. This is the best season of my life and I hope it will continue», celebrates Rahm between astonishment and pride, aware of the narrow margin by which the golf elite has been governed for a few years, just after the tyranny of Tiger Woods: »It’s very good that in just one month we had three different players as number one». Rory McIlroy opened the year on top, Scottie Scheffler replaced him and now the Spaniards are in charge. It is the fifth time he has reached the top since doing so in July 2020.

“It’s an honor to win the Tiger tournament”, celebrated Rahm, who accepted the Genesis Invitational trophy from the legend at the Riviera Country Club on the outskirts of Los Angeles. One of the temples of golf in the United States. One of the few places where neither Woods nor Jack Nicklaus failed. Coincidences in two of the best serves in golf history.

Rahm is breaking through

At 27, he already has 10 PGA Tour titles, including the 2021 US Open, and veteran experience. After the victory in Los Angeles, he was asked what he would choose from the best Tiger. “I admire every single virtue,” he praised her, sticking to the “mentality” and specific aspect of the fantasy game. “If I had to say his best virtue (…), it would be his incredible ability to putts when it should have been done, in the second nine holes,” he indicated, raising it to the altar of the chosen ones in United States sports, aware of who his audience was: “Like the great athletes in history, Michael Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Brady… That what makes the greatest the greatest is doing things right when they have to be done.

In golf, Rahm boosts stats only available to Woods. The Spanish player has won 19 of his 158 tournaments, more than 12%, which is just behind the best Tiger (22%) in terms of reliability. He has finished in the top ten in 97 of his 137 PGA Tour events. Another unusual regularity of a sport of ups and downs like golf.

Amidst so much praise, Rahm, a perfectionist, sticks with the key detail in golf, the way he left behind delicate moments at the Genesis Invitational, more than his video game shots: “The most important thing is how I reset in a bad situation. times.” That ability earned him a $3.6 million check as the winner of one of the PGA Tour’s new top-tier tournaments: those one step below Grand Slamwhose total prize pool reaches 20 million to face the rain of money offered by the circuit of the Saudi capital, LIV Golf.

Rahm is resting this week. And the golf world is already preparing its popcorn for his next challenge, the March 2-5 Bay Hill Invitational, the tournament of another legend, Arnold Palmer.