How can we forget 2023? Jon Rahm concluded his sporting year this Sunday with a fifth place at the DP World Tour Championship, the finale of the European circuit, in Dubai. And so, with another position of honor and an opponent’s victory, he completed an exercise that goes straight into the showcase: four individual trophies won, including the Augusta Masters, his second major after the US Open 2021, in addition to the Ryder Cup in Rome in which he emerged as a great leader of the European team. Movie theater.
Rahm has had a whirlwind start to the year, winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions on January 8th, the American Express on the 22nd and the Genesis Invitational on February 19th. And on April 9th, the day Seve Ballesteros would have turned 66, the Master’s green jacket. At two other majors, he finished tenth at the US Open and second at the British Open. It wasn’t until 2021 that he racked up more top 10 finishes across the four stages of the Grand Slam, finishing fifth at the Masters, eighth at the PGA, winner of the American Open and third at the British Open. Rahm describes this very course as the highlight of his golf game. “Result-wise, 2023 was my best year, but game-wise, I think 2021 was better. This season I was very close,” says the world number three.
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With the Dubai event, Rahm has played 22 tournaments in 2023, adding four wins, 12 top-10 finishes and just one missed cut at The Travelers, in addition to an illness-related withdrawal from The Players. In the revenue summary, the peak in a year is $17 million, an increase attributed to the sharp increase in prizes on the PGA Tour due to competition with the Saudi League.
Rahm finished at -17, four strokes behind the tournament winner, Dane Nicolai Hojgaard. Rory McIlroy was named best of the year on the European circuit for the fifth time (2012, 14, 15, 22 and 23, one title behind Seve and three behind Colin Montgomerie). Adrian Otaegui was 18th with -11; Pablo Larrazábal, 34th with -6; Jorge Campillo finished 43rd with -2, and the result earned him the American Circuit card the next season, a major achievement; and Nacho Elvira was last, 50th, with +6. The tournament went down in history with Englishman Matt Wallace’s record nine birdies in a row between holes 10 and 18 on the third day.
Next year is already around the corner for Jon Rahm. And the challenges that follow. One with capital letters is intended to add another great one to the US Open 2021 and the last Masters, and Barrika, due to the historical background of the tournament, always points out that the British Open is the stage where he wants to be crowned and inherit the legacy once again . by Seve, three-time winner for the British. And another focus is on the Paris Olympics after missing the Tokyo event at the last minute because they tested positive for Covid hours before getting on the plane.
At 29 years old and in full maturity, the Basque remains focused on increasing his prominence in the golf encyclopedia and chasing big prey. Therefore, remove the distractions of other things from your path. He recently announced that he will not be participating in the Tiger Woods League, a spectacle that mixes real and virtual golf and will take place on 15 Mondays throughout the season, although he had originally chosen the Tigers. And he has also ruled out replacing Rory McIlroy as a member of the PGA Tour board following the Northern Irishman’s resignation, saying it would require him investing a lot of time in meetings and phone calls. Golf and only golf.
The new return of Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods turns 48 on December 30th. The champion of 15 majors will organize a league next year that mixes real and virtual golf, and which could serve as training for a goal he has never given up: namely, to remain among the elite, despite the martyrdom of physical problems which he suffers. After undergoing surgery on his right ankle after the last Masters and not competing since, Woods has announced that he will compete in the Hero World Challenge, the tournament taking place in the Bahamas, from November 30th to December 3rd is organized. It will be a new opportunity to measure your recovery.
Final classification of the DP World Tour Championship.
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