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AUGUSTA, Ga. — History, it has been said, is written by the victors. In golf, one could say the victors are written by history.
Jon Rahm flung the doors of the throne room open on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club as he punished Brooks Koepka for 30 straight holes as a delayed third round wrapped and the final round began. Rahm bent over a putt on the 7th hole at 8:30 a.m. ET, trailing Koepka by four, the same number by which he would go on to beat him nearly 11 hours later.
Rahm swished the 9 footer, Koepka missed his 11-foot par putt, and the four-shot overnight lead was instantly sliced in half. Koepka never really recovered.
Rahm made just three bogeys on the day and played those final 30 holes in 3 under, while Koepka failed to get off the mat, playing Sunday in 5 over while kicking away a 36- and 54-hole lead as well as his best chance to join the comically historic five-major club, which has only welcomed 12 men since World War II.
Speaking of clubs, Rahm entered his own personal group of one Sunday: He became the first European to win both the U.S. Open and the Masters. Only 14 men worldwide have accomplished that feat over the last 80 years; none of them were born across the pond. Not even the legendary Seve Ballesteros — the first Spaniard to win the Masters 40 years ago and a man whose birthday fell on Masters Sunday — is a member of that club.
“I find it hard to believe, the first one,” Rahm questioned after the win. “You know, if there’s anything better than accomplishing something like this, it’s making history. Out of all the accomplishments and the many great players that have come before me, to be the first to do something like that, it’s a very humbling feeling.”
This is a story about how Jon Rahm has been one of the three best players in the world over the last eight years only to somehow be less well-known and popular as peers with much thinner resumes. It’s…
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Source : cbssports
