PGA Tour: As he heads into this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at the top of the rankings, Jon Rahm has relished his back-and-forth competition with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler for the title of world No. 1.
Rahm won the Genesis Invitational last month, his third victory of the year, giving him a 10th PGA Tour title and his fifth victory in his last nine international starts. The Spaniard will be competing at Bay Hill against a star-studded field and hopes to extend that streak while maintaining his No. 1 ranking.
Behind him, at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, are Rory McIlroy and reigning Masters champion Scheffler, who might retake the top place with victories this weekend.
Rahm remarked, “I mean, it’s been wonderful. When you are ranked first while the other players have been playing excellent golf, it is really satisfying. Last year, Rory (McIlroy) and Scottie (Scheffler) both had fantastic years and then near the end of the year, I started to improve. And even after Scottie’s victory in Phoenix, I was still able to quickly climb to No. 1.
“There is therefore a lot of satisfaction associated with it. In other words, you want to succeed in order to reach No. 1 if you’re going to achieve it in any way. One of those times, I believe, was when I placed 10th in a competition and returned to No. 1 after Justin Thomas, I believe, had a poor performance. That doesn’t feel as good as it should. Nonetheless, it’s a lot of fun when we play in the manner we have been.”
A week before The Players at TPC Sawgrass, Rahm had nothing but admiration for his two closest rivals.
They’re both fierce rivals, he continued, fierce, fierce rivals. “It’s difficult to add anything new to the conversation about Rory. It’s a thing of beauty when he’s operating at full capacity. Particularly from the tee, the manner he strikes the ball and how it flies are pretty distinctive.
“I believe Scottie has the potential to earn a tremendously high score. I’ve played with him a lot of times when it may not have looked the best, but you finish the round and, oh, 67. It’s really rather amazing.
“It’s obvious that both of them put in a tonne of effort to improve as players and champions. That is my assessment of each one. Although we frequently comment on Rory’s driving, it is truly amazing to behold in person.”
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