Weekly Recap: Rahm Reclaims the Throne

It takes a lot to steal the spotlight from an elite golfer capturing the No. 1 ranking in the world by winning one of the marquee events of the year over every other top golfer in a loaded field.

In fact, there really is only thing that could outshine Jon Rahm winning for the third time already in 2023 and reclaiming the top ranking at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday at storied Riviera Country Club.

That one thing would be Tiger Woods.

Woods made a triumphant return to golf after a seven-month absence and electrified the Los Angeles crowd for four days with booming drives, pin-point iron play and enough birdie putts to send numerous Tiger Roars rippling across the golf course. The loudest roar of the week was the near hole-in-one on 14 on Saturday. Imagine if the ball had rolled just 10 more inches? 

The 47-year-old astonishingly not only made the cut but began the final round with a share of 25th place. A Sunday stumble left him tied for 45th. As unpredictable as the first three days may have been, it was a predictable ending for someone still struggling to walk 18 holes, much less 72.

Almost two years to the day after his automobile accident in Los Angeles, Woods was quite the dichotomy on the course: at once a world-class athlete still playing at a high level and a nearly 50-year-old having difficulty even walking. 

Woods has said he will not be able to play much tournament golf ever again -- he said he's hoping to play the majors and maybe a few other times this year. The obvious next choice would be THE PLAYERS Championship in three weeks, a relatively flat walk, but that seems aggressive given the short recovery time. Woods might not play again until the Masters.

Overall, it was a thrill for golf fans around the world just to see Woods, who had played only three tournaments and nine total rounds since the November 2020 Masters.

Don't discount the importance or timing of Woods returning the week before LIV Golf kicks off its second season. Genesis week could not have gone better for the PGA Tour.

For those keeping track, Woods moved back into the top 1,000 in the world rankings at 985th. That puts him just 984 spots behind this guy …

Jon Rahm
Rahm was trailing on the back nine on Sunday and in quite a duel with Max Homa before he wrested control of the tournament in a brilliant three-hole stretch: After Homa bogeyed 13 to fall into a tie, Rahm sank a 46-foot birdie putt on No. 14 to go ahead, then a 6 ½-footer for a critical par save on 15 and finally he landed his tee shot on the par-16th inside of three feet for what amounted to a tournament-sealing birdie. That's the stuff of what the best in the world do. 

Rahm has now won three times already in 2023, following victories at the year-opening Tournament of Champions and the American Express two weeks later. He's won five of his past nine worldwide starts. It's confounding that he wasn't No. 1 in the world beforehand, but he surely is now, ending Scottie Scheffler's one-week placeholder after winning Phoenix and taking the top spot from Rory McIlroy.

We wrote a week ago how the top spot could be a game of musical chairs among those three throughout the year. But obviously Rahm is doing his best make sure he is the only seated for the rest of 2023.

Rahm, Scheffler, McIlroy and all the other top golfers will take a week off before returning in two weeks for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS in back-to-back weeks. At that point, it'll be less than a month from Augusta, where Rahm will almost assuredly be the favorite.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Max Homa
Homa has won five times over the past three years, most recently three weeks ago at Torrey Pines, leading some to suggest he's the best player in the world. Calm down, everyone. Homa is a great player, now ranked eighth in the world after his Riviera runner-up. But he's not yet in the class of Rahm, Scheffler and McIlroy. He just entered the top-10 OWGR for the first time and he's never had so much as a top-10 in a major, something he knows all too well. Homa might be on the fringe of being a top-five golfer. Clearly, he's getting better by leaps and bounds, and he could/should be in the mix at both Bay Hill and THE PLAYERS.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay doesn't endure many slumps, but he did at the beginning of the year – at least It was a slump for him. He didn't finish in the top-15 in his first three starts, and he had missed the cut last time out at Phoenix. Cantlay finished solo third at the Genesis, just what we expect from him in this type of tournament. He skipped over Cameron Smith to become No. 4 in the world.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris curiously withdrew from Phoenix two weeks ago with no reason given, leading everyone to believe his back injury flared up again. He was in action at Riviera and looked perfectly fine, resulting in solo fourth thanks to the round of the day on Sunday -- a 7-under 64. Afterward, Zalatoris said his back isn't 100 percent and won't be until April, which is what he's shooting for. There are three more designated events before the Masters. Let's see if Zalatoris plays in all of them.

Keith Mitchell
A great week for Mitchell soured at the end, with bogeys on 14 and 15 and a missed birdie try on 17. But he did birdie 18 to move to solo fifth after a weekend in which he played in the final group with Rahm and Homa both days. With two top-fives already in 2023, Mitchell is up to a career-high 44th in the world. The goal is to stay inside the top 50 to play the Masters.

Sahith Theegala
Theegala has had some close calls as he searches for his first PGA Tour win. He tied for sixth at Riviera, which in some ways might be his best showing in two seasons on Tour. All the top guys were in action. With the designated events all being stacked, Theegala might need to play a "regular" event to secure that first win. But he's sitting out this week's Honda Classic. The top-5 at Riviera moved him to a career-best 30th in the world.
 
Collin Morikawa
After a surprise missed cut at Phoenix, Morikawa got back to business with a tie for sixth, his third top-6 already in 2022. He ranked 25th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting and if he keeps that up, he will win a golf tournament or two this year.

Matt Kuchar
Jason Day and Rickie Fowler have been getting all the "older guys playing well again" attention. But Kuchar is right there with them, finishing eighth at the Genesis for his second top-10 of the year and a move back to 65th in the world rankings. Short of a win, Kuchar is seeking a top-50 spot in the OWGR to return to the Masters.

Jason Day
Speaking of Day, he finished just behind Kuchar in a tie for ninth, continuing a career resurgence. He's now back inside the top-50 in the world, at No. 46, and he hasn't yet qualified for the Masters. Day has run off three straight top-10s, all in top-flight fields, showing that all the skills that landed him at No. 1 in the world in 2015-16 are still functioning. As long as Day's back holds up, there's no telling how high he can climb.
 
Gary Woodland
Woodland tied for ninth, and he hasn't had many top-10s of late. His previous two had been at Houston and the U.S. Open, both tough courses like Riviera. And now after a week off he'll tee off in another hard track, Bay Hill, where he tied for fifth last year.

Adam Svensson
Svensson won The RSM Classic to close the fall season. A win is a win, but the field was not exactly loaded. The Genesis field surely was, and Svensson tied for ninth, which surely counts as his second-best result on Tour considering the circumstances. He's up to a career-best 58th in the world and will be among the highest-ranked players in this week's Honda Classic. Svensson ranked second in the Genesis field in SG: Around-the-Green and ninth in Putting, excellent numbers, but he'll have to tighten his approach play to contend at PGA National.

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler tied for 12th, which is a pretty good for an off-week. Now No. 2 in the world, his next start will be as defending champion at Bay Hill.

Harris English
English tied for 12th, perhaps his best showing since returning last June from hip surgery. He'll need to string together some good results to show this wasn't a one-off. English is in the Honda field.

Sam Ryder
What's gotten into Ryder? After his tie for fourth at the Farmers in which he was contending deep into Sunday, he's turned in twin T20s at Phoenix and Riviera. Is it simply a great stretch or has the journeyman found a new gear? Check back in two weeks at Bay Hill, because Ryder pulled out of the Honda after the field was announced.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler turned in his third top-20 in a row, with this T20 moving him to No. 72 in the world. The comeback appears real. Fowler's main goal, besides winning, is to get into the top-50 for the Masters. He can do it.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy tied for 29th, his second straight ho-hum result. Don't overthink this and think McIlroy is in a slump or anything. It's two weeks. He's a former Bay Hill winner (2018).

Missed Cuts

Among the golfers who didn't reach the weekend were Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Taylor Montgomery, Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, Sam Burns and Billy Horschel. Hey, it happens in an elite field. Of note, Montgomery, the top candidate for rookie of the year right now, struggles in tournaments where he can't really rely on his elite putting. Unfortunately for him, that's most of the top events. … Harman is off to a very slow start in 2023, missing two cuts with his only top-30 coming in the limited-field Tournament of Champions. … Horschel has missed two of four cuts in 2023 heading into the Honda, where he will be among only three top-25s in the field.