Jon Rahmcomes from winning his fifth tournamentor of the last nine he has played and this has automatically made him the favorite along with Scottie Scheffler to win the Arnold Palmer Invitationalthe tournament that since 2007 bears the name of ‘The King’ and is played in Bay Hill, a field that was his property and one of the most iconic in the United States.
Scheffler is the current champion and only a few weeks ago he revalidated the Phoenix Open; Rory McIlroy, the third in contention, also knows what it is to win this tournament, in addition to having five ‘top 10’ in an event that this year 44 of the 50 best in the world ranking attend. Nothing like having competition to raise the bar and push each other, in the style of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els at the time.
However, at ‘Lion of Barrika’ He is usually quite motivated by the history of his sport and this week he is within reach of achieving something that very few have done, that is to say have won the tournament that bears the seal of Jack Nicklaus (The Memorial), Tiger Woods (Genesis Invitational) and Arnold Palmer (AP Invitational). Only Fred Couples, Ernie Els and Hale Irwin have won all three, regardless of when the aforementioned myths took control of these events. For example, the Tiger did not organize the old Los Angeles Open until 2017. Let’s remember that Jon took the Memorial in 2020 and a few days ago Woods crowned him at his house.
The key, the pairs 5
In the numerical section of ‘Rahmbo’, the data right now speak for themselves. It is curious that in his last ten tournaments only 19 players have managed to get ahead of him, seven of them in the Hero World Challenge. in the three strokes gained statistics (from the tee, in approach and with a putt) the Spanish player enters the top 10 of all, Tiger being the only one to finish a season like this (two in particular: 2005 and 2007). There is a circumstance that also tells us where Jon wins the tournaments: in the pairs 5. He has in the last ten tournaments a cumulative of -97. In total he computes -157.
One more week, the fight for number 1 in the world rankingand not precisely because there is no stable leader, but because there are three at the same time. “This speaks to the greatness of golf right now, how well everyone has been playing.”explained the Biscayan at a press conference.
Regarding the confidence of the Basque in his game, it is evident that he has it based on the results he is reaping, but for If there is any doubt, they asked him if someone can beat him when he is playing his best game. Her answer was blunt: “No”. Without a doubt, champion mentality. Winning a golf tournament on the PGA Tour is extremely difficult, but the winner of the 2021 US Open has the game and the confidence.
The ‘old LIV’ and Palmer
At Arnold Palmer’s house there is also talk of LIV Golf, Greg Norman’s dream come true, something that the Shark already tried to create in 1994. On that occasion, during a meeting with the main players, The King aborted the plan. After Norman, Palmer intervened, saying, “Jack [Nicklaus] and I had the opportunity to do something very similar to this in 1968, when the Tour broke up. [del PGA of America]and we both decided that we would do what was best for golf.”
