Masters champion Jon Rahm can launch himself into superstar status with another green jacket

At his peak, Jon Rahm just might be the best player in the world. From his powerful drives to his touch on and around the greens, the big man from the Basque region of Spain has an immense talent that’s led to 20 professional wins worldwide, including a pair of majors.

Rahm was a massive favorite entering the 2023 Masters, and for good reason. He won the PGA Tour’s season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions in January and, two weeks later, claimed The American Express. A month later he won yet another trophy at the Genesis Invitational before he donned the green jacket with a four-shot Masters victory.

After his big win at Augusta National Golf Club, Rahm reset his professional goals so much it ultimately took him away from the Tour. When the 29-year-old drives down Magnolia Lane to defend his title in 2024, he’ll do so riding a different wave of momentum compared to 2023. Instead of three wins over eight PGA Tour starts, he’ll enter this year’s event after making five LIV Golf appearances.

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Despite 18 months of critical comments about the Saudi Arabia-backed league, Rahm joined the circuit late in 2023 because he wanted to further his legacy and said he made the move because he likes the idea of playing in different countries and the innovation the league is pushing – not to mention the life-changing money that will set his family up for generations to come.

“I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a big part of it,” Rahm recently said to ESPN about how LIV compensates its players. “In a nutshell, I'm getting paid more to play the same sport and have more time. I don't know about most people but that sounds great to me.”

“I have the right to do what I think is best for myself or my family. Period,” he continued. “I've said it before. As a father and as a husband, I have a duty to set my family up as best as possible. Not that we weren't, we're extremely privileged people, I'm aware of that. But it’s my duty.”

He was also enticed by how the league grew on a global scale in less than two years. After establishing himself in America, Rahm wanted to expand.

“Obviously the past two years there’s been a lot of evolving on the game of golf, things have changed a lot and so have I,” Rahm said. “I think the growth that I’ve seen and how it’s become a global business, right, and how we can impact golf globally, and in a much meaningful way, is something that’s been very enticing.”

“I've spoken in the past how (Seve Ballesteros) grew the game of golf in Spain, massively,” said Rahm, noting the legend is why he and so many others from Spain now play golf. “If I can do my part and leave golf in Spain and many other parts of the world in a better state and more improved, it would be a great accomplishment for me. Even if it's just 50 percent of what Seve did, which is already very ambitious because he was a very unique, polarizing man, I think that would be a very successful achievement and that's my goal.”

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“Spain's a growing country in golf, Jon’s a big part of that and I think he wants to just continue junior programs and things like that,” echoed his caddie, Adam Hayes.

During his time on Tour, Rahm picked up key wins at the Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, and the Genesis Invitational, hosted by Tiger Woods. He took pride in winning those heritage events but knew he could do more.

“What's even better than that is hopefully being a pioneer and being the ones that create the legacy that other people speak of in the future. That's something that again, as ambitious as it may be, we have the opportunity to do right now and that's something really exciting.”

“I mean, it stays constant. There's some tournaments I'm definitely going to miss. I hope I get to tee it up at the Players again. It would be a bit of a sour taste if my last ever start at the Players was WD because I was sick.

“As it comes to my new journey, it's obviously a little bit different, but I've been enjoying it,” Rahm said of his early LIV experiences. “But I'm definitely looking forward to joining with the rest of the best golfers in the world and teeing it up at the Masters with them.”

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Two key factors led to Rahm’s decision to leave for LIV Golf. The framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – LIV’s financial backer – opened the door, but his Masters win unlocked it. After all, a win at Augusta National earns the champion an annual invitation to the first men’s major of the year and also comes with exemptions to the other three majors for the next five years.

Wet and windy conditions all week long – remember the massive trees that fell on Friday? – didn’t dampen Rahm’s spirit at the 2023 Masters as he weathered the storms to shoot rounds of 65-69-73-69 to finish at 12 under, four shots clear of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. Despite a four-putt on the opening hole for a double bogey, Rahm was able to shoot 7 under in the first round and only made seven bogeys the rest of the week.

“If you're going to make a double or four-putt or anything, it might as well be the first hole, 71 holes to make it up,” Rahm said Thursday afternoon. “Then I remembered Seve's quote … I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Well, I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.’ Move on to the next. I carried a little bit of that negative energy into the tee shot on 2, hit it about 10 yards further than I usually do and moved on with my day.”

Rahm hit all 14 fairways off the tee, found 17 greens in regulation and went on to tie Anthony Kim – now his LIV Golf colleague – for the lowest score in a Masters round that included a double bogey over the last 40 years. He was so proud of how he responded, he ranked those opening 18 holes right up there with his Sunday finish at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where he won his first major title.

Only two players in the last 30 years had opened a major championship with double bogey and won: Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open and Lucas Glover a year later at the 2009 U.S. Open. Three days later Rahm would join them, as well as Sam Snead, who double-bogeyed the first at Augusta National before he won the 1952 Masters.

Friday tee times were moved up 30 minutes due to inclement weather in the forecast. The second round was suspended twice due to thunderstorms, and play was ultimately suspended. The second round finished Saturday with Rahm solo second at 10 under, two shots behind Koepka. It was the first time two players were double digits under par after 36 holes at the Masters. Play was again suspended Saturday afternoon when greens flooded and made the course unplayable. Koepka held a four-shot advantage over Rahm on the 7th green.

When the players returned to the course early Sunday, they faced a marathon final day that was as much an endurance test as a sprint against daylight. The frontrunners traded blows and, by the end of the third round, Koepka’s advantage was just two at 11 under.

“Well, it's important to be in the final pairing, the closest pursuer. I mean, I can't be worrying too much about what he's doing,” Rahm said that Sunday morning of chasing Koepka. “My objective today is to focus on my own game and what I can control. Whatever Brooks does is whatever Brooks does.”

Rahm had 30 holes to play on Sunday and a four-shot deficit to Koepka to overcome. By the time the sun set over the Georgia pines, Rahm finished with a four-shot victory and a handful of new titles, such as Masters champion and world No. 1.

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On the final 18, Rahm tied Koepka on the fourth hole and had a two-shot lead when he chipped to four feet on No. 8 for birdie.

“So when I took the tee on 4, the goal is to keep giving him something to look at,” Rahm explained, noting how the round felt like match play. “Meaning, if I hit a good shot, just for him to see that I have a birdie chance but keep putting the ball in the fairway and keep making good swings for him to feel more of the pressure rather than me, right. Me be the one pushing.”

Rahm birdied the 14th hole to get to 12 under and parred in, including an up-and-down save from short of the 18th green to secure not just a 3-under-par 69, but the green jacket.

Hayes knew his guy was bound to do something special midway through the back nine in the final round. Amen Corner is a massive obstacle to clear, and Rahm played the three-hole death trap at 1 under.

“The birdie on 14 certainly didn't seal the deal, but … It was cool to be a Spanish player, talking about Seve and his creativity and the shot that Jon hit, opening the face on an 8 iron, hit the big slice, and then the right spin down to the hole,” said Hayes of Rahm’s approach. “That was kind of where I was like, ‘OK, let's not chunk hit the water on 15 and try and get it in the house.’”

While Rahm made birdie on the 14th, Koepka three-putted for bogey before birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. He tied for second with Mickelson at 8 under, four shots behind Rahm, after a 75. Mickelson was 10 shots back at the start of the final round before his low round of the day, a 65.

There have been 12 major championships where a player was 12 under through 36 holes, like Koepka was at the Masters. On just three occasions, that player didn’t win. The first was LIV founder Greg Norman at the 1990 Open Championship. The second was Norman at the 1996 Masters.

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This time last year, Rahm wasn’t just the hottest player in the world, he seemingly had fate and destiny in his corner, as well. Rahm often watches old clips and tournament replays and takes pride in being not just a great player, but a historian of the game. That’s what made his triumph at Augusta National all the more special.

The 2023 tournament marked the 40th anniversary of Ballesteros’ second Masters win, and the final round ended on Sunday, April 9, which would’ve been Ballesteros’ 66th birthday. The last time the Masters ended on April 9 was six years earlier in 2017, when fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia pulled on a green jacket at the end of the week.

“I think when (Jose Maria Olazabal) won in '99, Sergio, it was his first start in the Masters, as an amateur,” Rahm said during his early week press conference, “and when Sergio won it was my first Masters as well. I hope history repeats itself and I get to win someday.”

Add foreshadowing to his list of many talents.

“I kept hearing, "Seve! Seve! Seve! Do it for Seve!" I heard that the entire back nine,” Rahm remembered of the final round. “That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win; that might have been the hardest thing.”

“Just a lot of little things that made it so much more special than what already winning the green jacket and being the Masters champion is,” said Rahm of the coincidences. “What other way to do it than finish it exactly like Seve would have wanted, hit it in the trees and getting up-and-down from 60 yards to make par.  That's about as Seve as it gets.”

Rahm was humbled to learn he became the first European player to win both a U.S. Open and Masters in their career. He’s also just the third international to do so, joining Gary Player and Angel Cabrera. At both the U.S. Open and Masters, Rahm was multiple shots back entering the final round. He’s now the fourth player in men's golf history to win both the Masters and U.S. Open from multiple shots back, following in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson.

Not a bad foursome.

Being the historian he is, Rahm will know that, come April, he’ll have a chance to join Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966), Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001 and 2002) as the only players to defend titles at the Masters.

“I think (2023 Masters) week in general, what impressed me most about Jon, first off, was just how he was just very levelheaded. There's no highs and lows, just kind of a very steady week,” added Hayes. “The second thing was it just kind of felt like it was meant to be. His game was in great shape. Physically he was in good shape. Life was in good shape, all that stuff.”

With his two sons and wife, a booming bank account and a new lease on life and legacy, Rahm is in good shape once again entering the first men’s major championship of 2024. His focus is at a global scale these days in terms of golf, and four more solid rounds in Georgia could elevate him to new heights in the game he so passionately loves.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Masters 2024 Preview: LIV or not, Jon Rahm could be golf's next superstar