Weekly Recap: Rahm Races to Victory

There was a widespread belief among golf observers that 2022 was a down year for Jon Rahm. He lost his No. 1 world ranking in April, didn't win till the year was almost half over and dropped as far as No. 6. He was a bit of an afterthought thanks to the great years that Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith and Rory McIlroy all had.

Rahm clearly let it be known he didn't agree with those golf observers. He made a late rush with a pair of top-10s in the FedExCup playoffs and then a pair of wins in Europe, including the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

And now Rahm has begun 2023 as if he's not done throwing it back in those golf observers' faces.

The Spaniard roared back from what at one point was nine-shot deficit to Collin Morikawa on Sunday at Kapalua, shooting a 31 on the back nine en route to a 10-under 63 for a stunning win in the year-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Morikawa had a six-shot lead on the field entering Sunday. It was seven over Rahm, who then went out and bogeyed No. 1. Things still looked great for Morikawa making the turn. But then Rahm birdied 12, 13 and 14 and eagled 15, while Morikawa's bogey-free week ended with three in a row on 14, 15 and 16 for a stunning collapse. Rahm wound up at 27-under for a two-stroke win.

It was only a year ago when Rahm shot 33-under at Kapalua – and didn't win. That's because Smith was unconscious with a record-setting 34-under total. It was the second runner-up for Rahm at the TOC. In hindsight, that was the beginning of him being pushed to a back burner, even though he was still No. 1 in the world.

Rahm moved from No. 5 at the beginning of the year to No. 4 with the TOC win, but he told reporters on Maui that he believes he really is No. 1.

"Oh, I definitely do, yeah," he said. "And had they not changed the World Ranking points, I would have been pretty damn close right now. At this point I'm thinking will I pass Patrick Cantlay? [He did.] Because since the playoffs, I have not missed a top 7. I've won three times, and I don't even get close to him. So I'm trying to understand what's going on.

"But in my mind, I feel like since August I've been the best player in the world, I feel like, and I think a lot of us should feel like a lot of times we're the best. Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it's been me."

Rahm surely has an argument, even though McIlroy is No. 1, Scheffler is second and Smith, despite leaving for LIV, is third.

A big problem for Rahm last year, at least for a while, was his short game. Kapalua isn't the best place to declare your problems solved, but it was impressive that Rahm ranked third in this 39-man field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and first in SG: Putting.

Through his short-game woes last year, Rahm never lost his position last year as one of the great drivers in golf. If his short game is, in fact, back, then he will make a real charge to regain the No. 1 ranking in 2023. 

We should note that this was the first elevated event in the PGA Tour's new landscape. There was a purse of $15 million, of which Rahm took home a massive haul of $2.7 million.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Collin Morikawa
After a disappointing 2022, Morikawa was cruising toward the perfect antidote -- a win in this first 2023 appearance. But he stunningly blew a six-stroke, 54-hole lead. Many people were quick to point out that this was the second time Morikawa coughed up a huge lead, the other coming at the 2021 Hero World Challenge. The two situations are entirely different, and this one was much worse. As good of an iron player Morikawa is, that's how bad he is with wedges and putter in hand. It's a real problem. There are tracks that can mask those shortcomings, and Morikawa is still a borderline top-10 golfer. But it will be interesting to see how much this collapse plays with his head over the coming weeks.

Max Homa
Homa's career continues to trend upward with a tie for third after doing no better than 15th in his first two visits to Kapalua. He sits at No. 16 in the world, matching his career best, and we should not be surprised to see Homa crack the top-10 during 2023 -- and also start to make a bigger dent on majors leaderboards.

Tom Hoge
Hoge continues to be underestimated. Well, he's now up to 30th OWGR after tying for third in this elite field. Now 33 years old, Hoge has improved his world ranking every year since 2016, which ended with him ranked No. 399. He finished last season at No. 11 on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach and so far this season he's ranked fourth. If you pay attention to only one golf stat, that's the one. Hoge will be playing in this week's Sony Open – but not before adding 5,000 frequent flyer miles to his account by leaving Hawaii for Los Angeles to see his alma mater TCU play for the national title on Monday night, then returning back to Honolulu.

Tom Kim
Kim burst onto the PGA Tour like a meteor late last season. Now, everyone will watch to see whether the 21-year-old can sustain things week in and week out, and grind out a full season across eight months. He's off to a good start with a tie for fifth at Kapalua at a course that surely favors bombers. Now he'll head to a tournament and course – the Sony Open at Waialae – that suits his precision game much more than Kapalua.

J.J. Spaun
Spaun just missed reaching the Tour Championship last August in what was his finest season on Tour. His tie for fifth in this elite field gives him a good jump-start on qualifying for East Lake eight months from now. Spaun opened with a 64 and impressively hung tough with the game's greats all four days. He's another one of the 19 guys in this field of 39 that will play the second leg of the Hawaii Swing this week.

K.H. Lee
Lee won the Byron Nelson in 2021, then did little over the next 12 months before successfully defending his title to earn a return trip to Kapalua. But since that second win last May, he's been compiling good finishes. There was a tie for fifth at the BMW Championship, then a solo third at one of the strongest fields of the fall at the CJ Cup. And now, Lee has tied for seventh at Kapalua. He's up to 37th in the world heading into this week's Sony.

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler needed at least a two-way tie for third place to regain the No. 1 ranking from Rory McIlroy, who was the only top guy sitting out the TOC. At one point on Sunday, scheffler was in a tie for third (a five-way tie) before winding up in a tie for seventh. He and McIlroy are close enough in OWGR points that it seems inevitable that they could go back and forth atop the rankings over the coming months, though Rahm will be a part of that equation, too. Scheffler will not be playing the Sony this week.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris tied for 11th, but the more important result is that he played for the first time since August and reported no issues with the two herniated disks that cost him a berth in the Tour Championship and a spot on the U.S. Presidents Cup team. After shooting 69 the first three days, Zalatoris closed with a 65 for an impressive finish. We'd be foolish to say that his back issues are a thing of the past; these types of injuries surely can linger with golfers. Zalatoris will not play two in a row just yet – he'll be sitting out the Sony this week.
 
Justin Thomas
Thomas has been as close to a sure thing at Kapalua as anyone else. He's won it twice, and had finished in the top five for four years running. But that streak is over with a blah tie for 25th. Thomas did not have a great year in 2022, outside of course winning the PGA Championship. This result is a bit of concern for us, and makes us wonder what lies ahead for Thomas in 2023.

Chez Reavie, Ryan Brehm, Adam Svensson, Chad Ramey
They all won tournaments in 2022 and thus all qualified for Kapalua. So they deserved to be in the field. But they were clearly outclassed and finished as the bottom four in the field. Reavie and Brehm tie for 35th, Svensson was 37th and Ramey brought up the rear in 38th place.

Xander Schauffele
Golf had its first ominous moment of 2023 when Schauffele withdrew from Wednesday's pro-am with a back injury. He did tee it up on Thursday, however, shooting a so-so 70. But he withdrew eight holes into Friday. The injury first surfaced at the Hero World Challenge in December, and flared up in Hawaii. We don't have any details on what's wrong, but the long-hitting Schauffele was having trouble reaching 300 off the tee at a tournament where we see an occasional 400-yard drive. Not a good sign.