Spain’s Jon Rahm won the 87th Masters on Sunday, April 9, by four shots over Brooks Koepka and three-time Augusta winner Phil Mickelson.
Rahm, 28, won his second major, having won the U.S. Open in 2021. He became the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters, joining Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal (both two-time winners of the green jacket) and Sergio Garcia. He is the first golfer from Spain to ever have won the masters and the U.S. Open championship.
“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his (Ballesteros’s second Masters) win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it’s incredibly meaningful,” Rahm said. “And to finish it off the way that I did—an unusual par, very much a Seve par—it was, in a non-purposeful way, a testament to him. I know he was pulling for me today, and it was a great Sunday.”
Rahm, who could have triple-bogeyed the 18th and still won, hit his tee shot on the 72nd hole well to the left. Neither he nor the Augusta National spotters saw where the tee shot went, so he played a provisional, as he is allowed under golf’s rules. However, the original ball was found in the rough to the left of the tee after rattling around the trees. Tht meant he had to play that ball, not the provisional. He was more than 100 yards behind Koepka’s clean tee shot and well to the left of the 18thgreen.
Rahm then hit a solid iron shot up toward the green, followed by a wedge on his third shot to four feet. He made the par putt to claim the green jacket. Ballesteros, one of golf’s all-time greats and a fan favorite, was known for his scrambling saves, especially with his wedge play.
A native of Barrika, Spain (in Basque country), and an Arizona State alumnus, Rahm won his 20th career professional title and $3.24 million.
After double bogeying the first hole of the tournament on Thursday, the Spaniard rallied to finish tied for the lead that dayat 65. He fell behind Koepka on the weather-shortened second day and started Sunday four behind after Saturday was again cut short by the elements. The top two players had to walk 30 holes on Sunday.
Rahm shaved Koepka’s lead to two by the end of third round.Over the final 18, Rahm shot a steady 69, getting a key birdie on No. 14 to pull five ahead of his final-round playing partner. Koepka, who led or was tied for the lead each after the first three rounds, faltered to a 75.
In the final round, Koepka seemed to be playing too defensively, and that cost him as he shot 3 over par for the final round.
“Obviously, it’s super disappointing, right,” Koepka said. “I didn’t play good enough to win.”
On the other hand, Rahm played aggressively early, but it helped him win.
“With how good I was swinging, I like to stay aggressive, and if I have a three-shot lead, trying to make it four,” said Rahm. “If I have four, try to make it five. That’s the goal,” said Rahm. “That’s the intention, just so you can go on 18 and mess up and still have a pretty good look at winning the tournament. Kind of like I almost did today, like Scottie (Scheffler) did last year, right.”
Scheffler took charge on Friday last year and won easily, but he did hit an errant tee shot on the 18th—his going right, where Rahm’s went left. Scheffler recovered with a superb iron, but hestruggled on the green before carding a double bogey six.
Before the Masters, Rahm was projected by the odds-makers with the second-best odds to win the tournament.
Perhaps the most surprising part of this Masters tournament was Mickelson coming in second place. He was in a featured group with Jordan Spieth, and they were exchanging birdies the whole round. Mickelson started the round at 1 under and finished the tournament at 8 under par to tie Koepka.
The 52-year-old Mickelson, who had said on Saturday that he was striking the ball well, shot the low round of the day, a 65. He and Koepka each had pay days of nearly $1.6 million.
Mickelson birdied eight times in the final round, catching fire and looking like the Phil Mickelson of old. For a while, the patrons thought he had a real shot to win his fourth green jacket due to Koepka sliding down the leader board as Rahm lost a stroke and saw his lead shrink to two strokes. But Rahm steadied and pulled off his second major victory.
“It was a fun day, and you just never know what can happen,” Mickelson said. “There was nine holes left to go when I walked off the golf course. I was two behind and Jon played an amazing back nine. I mean, a lot can happen on that back nine, a lot of good can happen and a lot of bad, and he played some incredible golf all week long and is a very worthy champion. It is easy to see why he’s regarded as the best player in the world, and he validated that today.”
Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Russell Henley tied for fourth at 7 under par. Spieth, the 2015 champion and playing with Mickelson, shot 66. Reed, the Augusta State University product and 2018 title, shot 68. Henley, the former University of Georgia golfer who was born in Macon, had a 70.
Cameron Young and first-round co-leader Viktor Hovland finished tied for seventh at 6 under par.
After a soggy Saturday, the weather on Sunday was ideal—clear skies with temperatures in the mid-60s. There was some wind, but it did not seem to bother the players, especially Mickelson and Spieth, who put on a dazzling duel of golf. Mickelson’s 8-under-par total looked like it might just be good enough to get into a playoff, but Rahm, the third-ranked player in the world, pulled away on the back nine.
Rahm for the fourth time this year and will probably climb back over defending champion Scottie Scheffler and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy in the rankings. Scheffler finished tied for 10th at 4 under par, and McIlroy did not make the cut.
And, so, it’s not about how you start but how you finish, and since Rahm is going home the champion, he’s glad he finished strong, not letting his early double bogey affect him. He had said on Thursday that he had 71 holes to overcome that double, and that’s exactly what he did.
Scheffler helped him on to his first green jacket. As well as Rahm has played this year, Sunday’s may not be his only green jacket—and stands a good chance to adding to Spain’s total of six.
