Jon Rahm hangs on to claim Mexico Open title, his first since U.S. Open win
For the first time in nearly a year, Jon Rahm has won on the PGA Tour.
The second-ranked golfer in the world went wire-to-wire and held on late on Sunday to take home the inaugural Mexico Open at Vidanta title.
.@JonRahmpga wins @MexicoOpenGolf 🏆 pic.twitter.com/XmQZa8NRnz
— GOLF on CBS ⛳ (@GOLFonCBS) May 1, 2022
Rahm posted a 2-under 64 on Sunday in Puerto Vallarta, which was just enough to fend off both Tony Finau and Brandon Wu — who shot up the leaderboard with record-setting finishes.
Rahm held at least a share of the lead the entire way through this week, and took a two-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round. It was the seventh time in his career on Tour that he’s held a share of the lead with 18 holes to go, though he’s converted that into a win just once in his last six attempts.
Rahm went 2-under on his front nine after opening the day with five straight pars before bogeying No. 10, which brought him into a three-way tie for the lead. He finally made up for that slip at the par-5 14th, where he sank a birdie putt to retake the solo lead before parring out the rest of the way to take the one-shot win.
“I stayed positive. I let my frustrations out a few times out there, but I always stay positive and I always stay hopeful,” Rahm said on CBS. “I think it showed on a few of my swings … I was confident in what I was doing, and I have faith in every part of my game and it shows.”
Several people made a run at Rahm in the final stretch on Sunday, including both Wu and Finau — who both tied a course record with an 8-under 63 to get to T2. The pair each jumped 15 spots up the leaderboard. They finished the week at 16-under par in a tie for second with Kurt Kitayama, who birdied the final hole to join Finau and Wu.
Rahm hasn’t won since his victory at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last summer, which marked his first major championship win. He lost his spot atop the Official World Golf Rankings last month to a surging Scottie Scheffler, too. He does, however, now have seven PGA Tour titles to his name and at least one win in each of the past six seasons.
Yet despite the cold stretch, Rahm still had four top-10 finishes already this season heading into Puerto Vallarta — including a runner-up finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and a T3 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open.
"I guess last year it took me a little bit longer to win, but in the past I had given myself a chance to win and I've been able to do it early," he said. "This year I got close in Hawaii and Torrey and since then, not really. So I'm happy. I kept working hard even though the results weren't coming ... It's just how the game is. I knew I was improving, I knew I was seeing results and this week has proven that."
Though he still has a ways to go to reclaim his No. 1 ranking, Rahm is clearly still on top of his game ahead of the PGA Championship. It’s still several weeks away, but Rahm is certainly playing well enough to make a meaningful run in Tulsa later this month.
