Jon Rahm is golf’s immovable force

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jon Rahm’s movements are imbued with purpose. His swing, his gait, and even the way he flips through his yardage book or sizes up a putt are done quickly but not flippantly. He is in control but not slowed by indecision. It is difficult to divert Rahm from his intended course.

His inertia is high.

Rahm has long seemed destined for greatness, and he’s never changed course. His victory at the Masters was a reminder of that.

He won the green jacket with a display of the consistency that has been a trademark of his career. A four-putt on his first hole of the week didn’t deter him. The worst weather of the week – conditions that a playing partner called “basically impossible” – couldn’t derail him. Nor could this generation’s most intimidating man in majors. Rahm just kept coming, taking the direct route to the green jacket. He stayed steady as others faltered.

It resulted in his second major championship and a return to the top spot in the world ranking. He has now won four TOUR titles in 2023 and leads the FedExCup by 786 points.

Consistency can become mundane. It’s not as alluring as the unpredictable, but it is more impressive. Rahm has finished in the top 10 in more than half of his worldwide starts as a pro (85 of 157, 54%). He has more wins (20) than missed cuts (14).

It’s a philosophy that has kept his career relatively immune from fluctuations. He was the world’s No. 1 amateur before becoming No. 1 as a pro. In each of his seven pro seasons, he’s never won fewer than two titles worldwide. He took a direct route to stardom, similar to how he approaches each hole.

No one better combines distance and accuracy, which means his rounds are devoid of the wild recoveries that are the most entertaining. Jordan Spieth he is not. His rounds are not meant to be exciting. They’re methodical. He makes the incredible look normal, which is a skill in itself.

Last year, when there was talk about a slump, he won two of his final three DP World Tour starts to keep his streak of multi-win seasons alive. Then he started 2023 by winning his first two PGA TOUR starts, and three of his first five. It adds up to six wins in his last 12 starts on the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour.

When Rahm was pressed for an explanation for his dominance after his victory at The Genesis Invitational, his third win of 2023, he couldn’t point to a single cause for his success. Instead, he spoke about the “day-to-day grind" and "doing the little things properly."

Discipline doesn’t generate headlines, but it works. Rahm showed that on the 12th hole Sunday. Despite having a short-iron in hand, he emulated golf’s greatest strategists, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, by aiming away from the hole and over the bunker fronting the green. Seeing players fire at flags may be more exciting but Rahm is more concerned with winning. Avoiding mistakes is just as important as making birdies.

“Doing the little things right for a long time will eventually pay off,” said Rahm, who was third in greens hit this week.

We are attracted to grand proclamations and radical changes. They make for dramatic stories and heated debate. But they aren’t always the path to success.

Rahm’s never rebuilt his swing or talked about reinventing himself. Unlike his peers, he’s never seen with an instructor standing behind him on the practice tee. He isn’t experimenting with pop psychology or fad diets. He just keeps winning.

Golf isn’t supposed to be so predictable. Chaos is inherent to the game. It’s one reason why it’s so addictive. The rewards are intermittent, coming at unexpected intervals. Not for Rahm, whose well-rounded game makes him difficult to beat.

A passage in Joe Posnanski’s book “The Baseball 100” could be used to describe Rahm and our relationship to him.

“(Baseball analyst) Bill James has talked often about how players who do one or two things well tend to be overrated, while people who do many things well are always underrated,” Posnanski wrote. “People who do famous things tend to be overrated, while people who are simply good day after day but never really make headlines tend to be underrated.”

This season, Rahm ranks in the top 30 of all six Strokes Gained categories. His short golf swing is a byproduct of the club foot he was born with. It prevents him from taking the club too far back, but also is an action that rarely gets off-kilter.

He is the best driver on the planet, leading the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season. His combination of distance and accuracy gives him a head start on the field and keeps big numbers off of his card. Improvements to his wedge play and putting have taken his game to another level.

He missed just eight fairways all week, ranking fourth in driving accuracy. He hit every fairway in the first round. His dependable fade had returned, a reliable shot that is difficult to beat.

Then there are skills that can’t be measured by the analytics or launch monitors.

“Some guys just have it deep down,” said his caddie, Adam Hayes. “They talk about the ‘it’ factor and I think that he has that.”

Rahm proved it again at the Masters, by doing what he does best. Winning.