Jon Rahm starts next to his house one of the most attractive and demanding phases of the calendar for closing winter with four tournaments in five weeks. For a start, the golfer of the barrelleader of the FedEx Cuphas the chance to return to world number 1 at the Waste Management Phoenix Openthe tournament that is played at the TPC Scottsdale a few minutes from his residence in Arizona, where the Super Bowl and this superlative event will coincide this weekend, which is the first of the new rank tournaments. high level arranged by the PGA Tour that will have the full participation of 156 players and a prize pool increased from 8.5 to 20 million dollars.
“I think this was already a ‘high tournament’ before we knew it was going to be. No matter what the purse is, this tournament is going to be what it is. Very few sporting events in the world can comfortably take place in the same week as the Super Bowl and still have the impact they do.”, explains Rahm about an appointment that is outside the margins of what golf is as a sport. The Phoenix Open moves huge amounts of money and public, above any other tournament, and It is famous above all for its 16th hole, a par 3 whose green gathers 20,000 noisy and excessively loud people in its stands.s, to the point that last year the matter got out of hand due to the throwing of bottles and cans when the players executed good shots. That’s why Jon Rahm, trained at Arizona State, recognizes that “this is a tournament that you love it or hate it. I love it and I always want to be here. But others have it at the bottom of their list.
El barricoztar solo finds advantages to a tournament that allows him to sleep at home and maintain a family environment. “Arriving and seeing the children takes away the sorrows of a bad turn. It helps you relativize and fill you with much-needed humility, ”she reflects. He debuted in the tournament in 2015 still as a university student and finished fifth. That is his best result and he has never really been close to winning, although in his seven participations he has always finished in the top 16, three of them in the Top 10. For this year, he starts again among the main favourites, backed by his recent trajectory and his two victories in the month of January. The Phoenix Open has brought together the top three of the FedEx Cup for the first two days, so Rahm will play with Max Homa, who is only 17 points behind and is a friendly teammate, and with Keegan Bradley, who on the contrary is very slow and self-absorbed.
Duel with Mcilroy
At the TPC Scottsdale will be 18 of the 20 best in the world, something that has not happened on the American circuit since 2007. Among them is included the first, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman makes his debut on the PGA Tour this year and arrives after winning the Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, which is his third victory in ten outings on a course. Jon Rahm has four out of ten, so in Phoenix they dream that both are fighting for the title on Sunday, in addition to the world number 1 for which Barrika’s man needs to win or be second so as not to depend on his rival.
“I’ve taken a load off my shoulders,” admits the Biscayan after his victories in the Sentry Tournament and the American Express. “I feel comfortable with my swing and on this course how you hit the ball is essential because the course is not as easy as it seems. I hope that a bad tournament is to finish seventh ”, he adds about his last appearance at Farmers Insurance. This week he wants to settle his pending account with the Phoenix Open, an appointment that, like the Spanish Open, he considers to be his home.
