The No. 1 participant on the planet, Jon Rahm, stated he obtained some stable recommendation just lately on tips on how to preserve his recreation at its peak for so long as doable.
And it got here from Tiger Woods.
“I requested him, ‘Out of the 82 wins on the PGA Tour,’ — I did not get into the opposite ones — ‘what number of instances do you assume you performed your greatest all 4 days?'” Rahm advised reporters on Tuesday. “And he stated, ‘Three at most.’ Proper? Loads of these Sundays he performed his greatest, however the entire week, only a few.
“The factor is, you do not have to be firing on all cylinders to win.”
However coming off his win on the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 19 — a win that put Rahm within the No. 1 spot within the Official World Golf Rating — the Spaniard is firing on all cylinders. Requested forward of this weekend’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill if anybody may beat him, the reply was easy: “No.”
Rahm was fast so as to add that he hopes plenty of gamers would really feel the identical means, nevertheless it’s arduous to argue with the arrogance Rahm has within the state of his recreation. He arrived at Bay Hill coming off his fifth win in his previous 9 worldwide begins, and is the primary participant since Johnny Miller in 1975 to win three occasions in a yr earlier than the calendar reached March.
“There’s plenty of satisfaction that involves it while you get to be No. 1 when the opposite gamers have been taking part in nice golf as properly,” Rahm stated. “Scottie [Scheffler] had an amazing yr final yr, Rory [McIlroy] had an amazing yr final yr, after which in the direction of the tip of the yr I type of picked up.
“And even with Scottie successful at Phoenix, I used to be capable of get to No. 1 proper after.”
It was Scheffler who knocked McIlroy off the highest spot on the Waste Administration Open at TPC Scottsdale on Feb. 12, however Scheffler’s reign lasted only one week earlier than Rahm moved forward of him along with his win at Riviera.
How lengthy Rahm stays there stays to be seen — McIlroy or Scheffler may leapfrog him once more relying upon how issues go at Bay Hill.
Rahm, who has been an outspoken critic of the OWGR, acknowledged the ability battle over No. 1 between three gamers competing at such an elite degree is thrilling for the sport.
“I imply, it has been nice,” Rahm stated. “What’s it, essentially the most quantity of No. 1 modifications on this brief time frame? I noticed a few of these stats as a result of it is simply actually attention-grabbing, which speaks to the greatness of the sport of golf proper now, how good all people’s been taking part in.”
The revamped schedule and elevated purses the PGA Tour applied in response to the competitors from LIV Golf have led to the highest gamers competing in the identical occasion much more usually.
This week, 43 of the highest 50 gamers within the OWGR are at Bay Hill — essentially the most at an occasion for the reason that 2022 Open Championship. Nearly all of them additionally will head two hours north for subsequent week’s Gamers Championship.
That is all with an eye fixed towards the Masters the primary week of April. Maybe the continuing risk from the likes of McIlroy and Scheffler on the prime of the world rankings will proceed to push Rahm to take care of his present degree.
“There’s plenty of satisfaction that involves it,” he stated of being No. 1 on the planet. “Once we’ve been taking part in the way in which we have been taking part in, it is plenty of enjoyable.
“It is best to sit down and mirror and luxuriate in what you are doing, clearly. However as rivals you don’t need it to finish, clearly.”
Info from Reuters was used on this report.
