AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jon Rahm turned the longest day into his sweetest victory, beginning Sunday with a four-shot deficit within the morning chill and ending in fading daylight because the fourth Spaniard to turn out to be a Masters champion.
Rahm closed with a 3-under 69 to drag away from mistake-prone Brooks Koepka. He received by 4 photographs over Koepka and 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, who turned in a tournament-best 65. He’s the oldest runner-up in Masters historical past.
It was Mickelson who declared Rahm could be amongst golf’s largest stars even earlier than the Spaniard turned professional in 2016. Rahm now has a inexperienced jacket to go together with his U.S. Open title he received in 2021 at Torrey Pines.
Rahm made up two photographs on Koepka over the ultimate 12 holes of the rain-delayed third spherical and began the ultimate spherical two photographs behind. He seized on Koepka’s collapse after which surged thus far forward that Mickelson’s superb closing spherical — the perfect ultimate spherical ever at Augusta Nationwide for the three-time Masters champion — was by no means going to be sufficient.
Nothing was extra satisfying than an uphill climb to the 18th inexperienced to say the inexperienced jacket on a day when Spanish stars aligned. Sunday is the birthdate of his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros, and that is the 40-year anniversary of Ballesteros profitable his second Masters title.
Rahm embraced his spouse and two youngsters, and as he walked towards the scoring room, there was two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal in his inexperienced jacket for the strongest hug of all.
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Rahm received for the fourth time this 12 months — simply as Scottie Scheffler did a 12 months in the past when he received the Masters — and reclaimed the No. 1 world rating from Scheffler.
This Masters had a little bit little bit of all the pieces — scorching and humid at first, a chilly entrance with wind that toppled three bushes on Friday, placing surfaces saturated from rain on Saturday and a marathon end Sunday as Rahm and Koepka went 30 holes.
Koepka helped to pave the best way with one miscue after one other, dropping the lead for the primary time since Thursday afternoon when he chipped 20 toes previous the opening from behind the par-3 sixth and made his second bogey. There could be extra to return.
Worse but, Koepka went 22 consecutive holes Sunday and not using a birdie — from the par-5 eighth gap within the morning of the third spherical till the par-5 thirteenth in ultimate spherical. By then, he was three photographs behind and Rahm all however sealed it along with his subsequent shot.
He hit a low minimize round a tree from proper of the 14th fairway and it caught a slope good on the 14th inexperienced and fed down to three toes for a birdie. When Koepka three-putted for bogey, it was a matter of ending.
Rahm hooked his tee shot into the bushes on the ultimate gap and didn’t attain the green. Irrespective of. He performed up the green, hit wedge to three toes and tapped in for the victory.
The leaderboard was suffering from main champions and a tinge of Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Mickelson and Koepka each are a part of the rival circuit. Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, one other participant who defected to LIV, closed with a 68 and tied for fourth with Jordan Spieth (66) and Russell Henley.
