Rahm-Bo! Jon Rahm Blows Away Irish Open Field

Golf’s next big thing got a little bigger in the cold and rain of Portstewart Golf Club on Sunday afternoon in Northern Ireland.

Golf’s next big thing showed off the talent it takes to become golf’s next big thing.

There are times when golf becomes predictable and this was one of them.

Jon Rahm entered the final round of the Irish Open tied with Daniel Im at 17-under par.

No way Im could hang in there against Rahm, who is already a world-class player despite his inexperience.

It simply wasn’t a fair fight.

Im bowed out early with a pair of bogeys and a shaky putter.  Rahm started slow, found himself forced to hole a clutch 14-footer for par at the second hole then at the par five fifth, the flood gates opened.

Rahm hit a poor drive, had to chop his second shot out of the high stuff then found himself with 150-yards for his third on the par five.  All he did was hole it out and it was the beginning of the end for Im and the rest of the tough European field.

Rahm nailed down a two-putt birdie at the seventh, then added two more at eight and nine.  He was 22-under at the turn and had his sites set on the tournament record.   He walked off 10 green with another birdie, 23-under.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, who will jump into the world’s top 10 this week, eagled the par five 14th to go 25-under.  He was simply overpowering the course, crushing the field.

Then youth interfered.  Sloppy bogeys at 16 and 18 spoiled things a bit, a birdie at 17 was thrown in for the heck of it.

Okay, here’s where it gets a bit scary.

“I’ve been saying I haven’t played my best golf,” Rahm reminded everyone.  “And today for the first 15 holes,  I played the best golf I can ever play on the golf course with the weather (rain) that we had.”

It was a blowout.  He was six better than Richie Ramsay and Matthew Southgate. His 24-under par total wiped out the 21-under record set by Berhard Langer in 1984.

This day, this march to victory for Rahm, was not without controversy.

At the sixth hole, he marked his ball by placing his marker on the side of the ball then moved it a clubhead to clear a path for playing partner Im to putt.  When Rahm re-marked, he moved his marker back one clubhead then instead of remarking by placing the ball beside the marker, he replaced it in front of the marker.  That move cost Lexi Thompson a major championship at the ANA Inspiration.  Rahm clearly mis-marked his ball, putted out then was approached Andy McPhee,  Chief Rules Referee for the European Tour.  After a short discussion with Rahm and Im,  Rahm emerged all smiles.

McPhee later explained the decision:

McPhee believed there may have been a slight difference between where the ball came to rest and where it was replaced. But he compared it to the difference between 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock on a watch, a slight enough gap that it could be forgiven by the new decision created in the wake of Lexi Thompson’s  fiasco at the ANA.

“When he put the ball back down, he said, ‘I think I made an effort to put it back to the side,’ which tallies with what I see on the pictures,” McPhee said. “Because if he didn’t, he’d be putting it back immediately in front of the marker, and he didn’t. He moved it slightly to the side.

“So do I think he’s got the ball in exactly the right place? No, I don’t. I think the ball is slightly in the wrong place, but we’re talking about maybe a couple millimeters here or there. So then that falls within the limitation of video evidence, and it comes down to has the player made a reasonable judgment? And I believe he has.”

Rahm was five in front at the time of the no-penalty decision.

It would later cause commotion on social media.

Controversy or not,  Rahm made a statement with this win, his first on the European Tour.

He no doubt impressed the heck out of the powers who oversee the European Ryder Cup team.

No doubt he impressed the heck out of the rest of the field.

Yeah, golf’s next big thing.

Still getting bigger by the week.

Irish Open Final Results: