When you consider his dominance in Dubai, it was easy to see Jon Rahm crossing the finish line Sunday in Dubai, winning his third DP World Tour Championship in only five appearances.
Rahm’s been that good on the Earth course and as he said after finishing at 20-under par, “I like this course and it likes me.”
Three birdies over the first three holes by Rahm started his day with a simple message to the rest of the field — this was his day. He started 15-under, got to 18-under quickly and stood there at the turn. Two more had him 20-under through 15 holes and cruising to the finish line but he kept his head down, grinding it out.
“When I hit my second shot on 18 and I had 65 yards to the pin, then I was like, ‘OK, now we’re good,’” Rahm said afterward. “Up until then, no. I definitely made it more stressful than it needed to be. It was only a two-shot lead. If I hit it in the water on 18, I have to do good to make a bogey. So I was just hoping to keep it on dry land. I was in control of myself, but I can’t control what other people do. But once I laid up on 18, I was pretty sure I could get up-and-down in four shots.”
That layup shot came as a result of a drive that sailed left on him, far enough left that he hit a provisional ball. But he had a play on the first drive although his layup only cleared the creek that cuts up the middle of the fairway by a yard or two. An easy par gave him a closing 67 added to rounds of 70-66-65.
Rahm skipped this event last year because of Covid, but he was on top of his game all week this go-round. “Even though I decided not to come last year I came here with the mentality of ‘Well, nobody beat me in the last two years so they’re going to have to beat me again’. I came in with that confidence. A lot of similarities to the past – the last time I won here I started at 15 under, had a heck of a front nine and I shot 20 under as well to win it.”
With the win, Rahm became the first player to win this DP World Tour season finale three times and he’s the first five-time winner of the tour’s Rolex eventssss.
His personal life is bringing him great joy as well. “We had a second boy this year, a lot of changes at home – it also helps. I got a lot of videos from my kids back home laughing and doing things. I do draw from some memories. Kelley (Rahm’s wife) sent me a video of our youngest when he was clapping, and that’s what I was thinking on the last few holes, hopefully try to make him clap a little bit more.”
As for McIlroy, his solo fourth wrapped up the Trans-Atlantic double — the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Harry Vardon Trophy, symbolic of the No. 1 player on the DP World Tour.
He closed with a four-under par 68, 16-under, four back of Rahm, and two back of Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Noren, who tied for second at 18-under.
McIlroy said he was proud of his consistency and that consistency has taken him back to No. 1 in the world rankings.
As he looked back on 2022, his message sounds like he’s looking forward to a big 2023 season.
“I’m as complete a golfer as I feel I’ve ever been,” Rory said as he waited to congratulate Rahm. “And hopefully I can continue on that path. All I can really do is focus on not just keeping this level of golf going but trying to build on it and trying to see if there’s any incremental improvements I can make going forward. I feel like if my driving is not on one day, I feel like my putting will bail me out. I feel like if my putting is not on, my iron play will bail me out, and if my iron play is not on, my short game will. I used to rely very heavily on one or two aspects of the game, but now I feel like now I’m pretty efficient in all areas.
And when you look at that DP World Tour Championship scoreboard, somewhere, European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is smiling.
