John Rahm has said that he is concentrating on winning the Memorial tournament and not the prospect of becoming World No. 1. The Spaniard shot a 4 under 68 to move him 4 shots clear of the rest of the field. A victory here would help him leapfrog Rory Mcllroy to the top of the golf rankings.
“Four shots on a windy, difficult, firm golf course is nothing,” Rahm said. “It’s me making two bogeys and somebody making one birdie and then suddenly it’s only a one-shot lead.”Many times when I see myself three, four shots behind, like I did at Torrey [Pines], for example, I’ve always hoped for really bad conditions because if you play good, it’s the easiest way to make up a large deficit.”
Rahm was three behind with 7 holes to play but took advantage of a number of errors from then leader, Tony Finau. He then went on to birdie the next 4 holes to help him take a significant lead going into the final day, This would be Rahm’s 4th career PGA title. “Now I’ve got to flip that and hope I have good weather because if you play good, it’s the best way I have to possibly increase that lead and try to win by as many as possible. That’s going to be my mission tomorrow, just go play good golf and hopefully have a good cushion coming down the stretch.”
Victory would help Rahm be only the second Spanish player to top the golf rankings joining Seve Ballesteros. “A few months ago in Dubai, I got the opportunity to make some Spanish history and it would be doing it again to become [world] No 1 after Seve [Ballesteros],” Rahm said. “It’s obviously a big deal. But it is a consequence of me winning tomorrow. What’s important to me tomorrow is hit good shots, be committed and get the job done. Everything else will be taken care of afterwards.”
