From the moment he landed in a west coast paradise of Mexico, Jon Rahm was followed by a glaring spotlight and carrying the heavy load of expectation heading into and then during the Mexico Open at Vidanta in Vallarta.
At world No. 2, he was the highest-ranked player in a field that only attracted five of the top 35 players in the world. He was the overwhelming favorite in betting shops the world over. And he looked primed to win for the first time since he won the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
In other words, he was expected to win.
Rahm lived up to his advanced billing by sharing the lead after a first-round 7-under-par 64, leading by two shots after 36 holes and by two after 54.
Going into Sunday’s final round, the prospect of him running away for the victory was definitely in the air. But Rahm never put the pedal to the metal because he never got ahold of the pace of the greens.
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He fell back into a share of the lead after 12 holes but then held on with a big birdie on the 14th and gut-check pars coming home to win his seventh PGA Tour title. His final tap-in on the 72nd hole wrapped up rounds of 64-66-68-69 as he won by one shot at 17 under.
“I don’t look at bets. I like to think every time I tee it up I can win,” Rahm said. “It was a pretty stressful weekend. But I got it done at the end.”
As he thought he could at the start of the week.
“I knew I was improving. I knew I was seeing results and this week has proven that,” Rahm said. “I think that Sunday with Tiger (Woods) at Augusta gave me quite a bit of confidence. I was a little bit technical in my approach. I’m a feel player and that Sunday I told myself just go out there and hit the golf ball, make shots, see the ball flight and execute and I shot a 3 under without having my best stuff on a tough day.
“So I applied the same thing this week, minimal technical thoughts and just visualizing ball flight of the shot and getting back to my true self and I truly saw the difference. My iron game was really, really solid, especially into the wind. Sometimes we deviate from our path but this time we didn’t and I’m happy to get my first win and get back up there in the FedExCup standings and hopefully get my second one soon.”
Rahm finished one stroke clear of Brandon Wu, Tony Finau and Kurt Kitayama.
More: Get to know Brandon Wu
Wu, looking for his first PGA Tour title, started the final round seven shots back. But he posted an eagle and six birdies, his last coming on the 16th to give him a share of the lead. His tournament course-record 63 – also his career low on the PGA Tour – gave him the clubhouse lead at 16 under. But he was unable to birdie the par-5 18th.
“At the start of the day, seven back you’re not really thinking about (winning),” Wu said. “I was proud of the way I kept my head down and kept pushing.”
Finau, ranked No. 25 in the world, was playing one group behind Wu and also started his day seven shots back. And Finau also shot 63 to share the clubhouse lead at 16 under, his round keyed by a three-hole stretch on the back nine where he went birdie-eagle-birdie.
It was Finau’s first top 10 since winning the Northern Trust last August.
“I haven’t had a great season and just sometimes it’s just how it goes. It’s the game that we play,” Finau said. “I really wanted to put together a nice week and I was able to do that this week and gave myself a chance to do something special right at the end. A lot of confidence builders on a day like today and I’ll carry that with me the rest of the season.”
Kitayama, also looking for his first PGA Tour win, grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie on the 12th but fell back with a bogey on the par-5 14th after a wayward approach. He finished with a 68.
“I feel like I can compete up there when there’s a lot of pressure on the line. I feel like I can handle my emotions fairly well,” Kitayama said. “I had a lot of good looks. (Rahm’s) just a really good player. He got off to a slow start and just kind of slowly prodded along and didn’t really waiver much.”
Davis Riley closed with a 68 to finish at 15 under.
At 14 under were Aaron Wise (64), David Lipsky (64), Alex Smalley (68) and Cameron Champ (70).
Rahm, who looked exhausted at the end, lit up when his son, Kepa, 1, and wife, Kelley, joined him on the green to begin his celebration. He also looked very proud to beat not only the field and the course but all the pressure associated with being the favorite.
“I stayed positive,” Rahm said. “I let out my frustrations a little bit out there. It wasn’t my best putting weekend. But I stayed aggressive. I wish it was a little less stressful but a win is a win.”
