A rested Jon Rahm returns at THE NORTHERN TRUST

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The PGA TOUR’s ‘super season,’ a 50-event docket that included six majors, is coming to a close. At least one player is well-rested entering the FedExCup Playoffs, however.

That is Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world and fifth-ranked player in the FedExCup. Rahm hasn’t played in a month, since finishing third in The Open Championship.

“I was with my wife and our son and had a great time, also trained hard and practiced hard,” Rahm said Tuesday from Liberty National, the site of this week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST. “I'm probably going to be a little bit more rested than most people, but at the same time, I haven't played competitively in four weeks. There might be a slight bit of rust, but I'm pretty sure that's going to go quickly just because of how happy and how excited I am to be back and be competing.”

Rahm’s long hiatus followed positive COVID-19 tests that kept him out of last month’s Olympics. It was the second time Rahm had to pull out of an event because of a positive test. He was cruising to his second victory in the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday before having to withdraw after the third round.

Despite his missed time, he’s still in the running for the FedExCup and PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year Award. He’s finished in the top 10 in five consecutive majors, including his win at the U.S. Open. His 12 top-10s are three more than any player this season and have come in just 19 starts.

Rahm only had mild symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19 at the Memorial. He had started the vaccination process earlier that week. He came back to win the U.S. Open in his next start, then finished T7 in the Scottish Open and third in The Open. But he tested positive again before leaving for Tokyo, likely because of remnants of the virus.

Missing the Olympics was “a little harder to digest” because he was not sick.

“It sucked because I wanted to represent Spain,” Rahm said. “I wanted to hopefully give Spain a medal. … I was more in the mindset of playing for them more than me.”

Rahm’s first two tests before leaving for Tokyo both returned negative results. He tested positive twice on the Saturday before the Games, however. He was tested on each of the next two days, and again returned negative results.

“I don't know if it's false positives or just what I had leftover from when I had COVID, just dead cells that were in there that we all know can happen,” Rahm said. “There's a reason why the PGA TOUR won't test you for a while after you've had COVID.”

Rahm could have returned for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but he’d not planned on playing the event after the Olympics and decided to stick to his original schedule. That gave him an extra two weeks at home.

He’s just 168 points behind leader Collin Morikawa in the FedExCup. Rahm has qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of his four PGA TOUR seasons, finishing in the top five of the FedExCup in both 2017 (5th) and 2020 (4th).

He finished third the last time THE NORTHERN TRUST was played at Liberty National, finishing two shots behind winner Patrick Reed after bogeys at 14 and 15. After a long time at home, Rahm is glad to be playing again in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

“I spent a lot of time with Kepa (the Rahms’ son, who was born in April) because, with what we do, we're gone so often that I know I'm going to miss a lot of things,” Rahm said, “and I'm going to take advantage of times I get to be home.”

But now he’s back on TOUR, with the FedExCup in his sights.