Rahm Raid

JON RAHM NEVER IMAGINED HE’D BE DEFENDING THE DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN AS EUROPE’S HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYER. OTHER LEGENDS AREN’T SURPRISED AT ALL.

- Kent Gray

PHIL MICKELSON OPENLY TOUTED JON RAHM for greatness, Johnny Miller too. ▶ “He doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Lefty said after the Spaniard rode five birdies and two eagles to a closing 65 and a recordsetting six-shot victory at last year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart in Londonderry. “Every part of his game is a strength.” ▶ Given Rahm’s manager is Mickelson’s younger brother and caddy Tim, you could dismiss those comments as hyperbole topped with lashings of nepotism. ▶ But Miller clearly agreed with the Mickelson boys, the twotime major winning Hall of Famer turned TV analyst saying Rahm has future No.1 “written all over his head.” ▶ ▶ ▶

Fast-forward 12 months and Rahm is living up to the heady billing. Victory at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November has quickly snowballed into a second PGA Tour triumph at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January and a third European Tour title at his home Open de Espana in April, a week after he’d finished solo fourth at The Masters.