How good can Jon Rahm be in 2023? The former world No. 1 golfer has the highest ceiling on the PGA Tour
The world is still Jon Rahm’s oyster in 2022 despite questions surrounding his performance after last year’s career-defining season. Entering January as world number 1, starting a campaign where he finished in the top 10 in 15 of 24 starts and won his first major championship at the US Open 2021, Rahm has seems to have maintained this momentum in the early stages of the tournament. New Year.
Possessing one of the highest tiers in professional golf, the Spaniard lost disappointingly in a penalty shootout to Cameron Smith at the Tournament of Champions, clearly showing his disappointment. conditions at The American Express and was scuttled over the weekend at Torrey Pines.
Concerns surrounding Rahm’s short game began to reverberate around the golfing world when a relative lull loomed in early spring that included three top 20 finishes after five starts. Abandoning the top of the Official World Golf Rankings and needing to beat any naysayers, the 28-year-old arrives at the Mexican Open as a heavyweight betting fan and has delivered goods in such a way.
Rahm’s win in Mexico catapulted him to the weekend’s run at the US Open and a runner-up finish at the BMW PGA Championship before winning the Open de España and DP World Tour Championship. Three wins in his last 14 worldwide matches in 2022 have saved what many see as a down year for a player of Rahm’s caliber.
“Hopefully people can stop telling me it’s been a bad year,” Rahm said after winning the DP World Tour finale. “Three wins worldwide. Three wins on three different continents. Yeah, no major championships, but it’s still been a really, really good season.”
A really, really good season? Correct. A great season? Is not. Harsh, perhaps, that doesn’t mean 2023 will look like the clip where Rahm’s victory continues to be absurd.
His 2021 season has shown quality. Lead him to victory at the Memorial – where he had to withdraw before the final round with a six-stroke lead due to a positive COVID-19 test – and break through to claim the only major title. his best at the US Open, Rahm simply dominated.
The golf course, the weather, the competition — it doesn’t matter. If a tournament is held, Rahm will compete. That’s how tall his floor is, but more importantly, how tall is he ceiling to be.
Rahm’s 2022 is inherently different despite having a higher win total. Quality was lacking as he contested only one major championship, and his only PGA Tour title came on one of the weakest courts of the season. The win matters, and Rahm has ticked that box for the past year. But in 2023, expect him to return to the path of two years ago.
While his standard of victory was downgraded, Rahm remained the standard for success from the start. Reaching 1,025 strokes per round with driver in hand, Rahm leads the PGA Tour statistically and is nearly twice as efficient as Patrick Cantlay, 17th on the season, three times as efficient as Scottie Scheffler (37th). ) and four times. more effective than Billy Horschel (50th).
The most predictable shots hit the statistics, Rahm’s combination of distance and tee accuracy should allow him to hit those 2.5 wins per year. It’s certainly a weapon, yes, one that makes a difference, but not the club will allow him to add a No 2 or maybe a No 3 in 2023.
That honor goes to his hitter. Finding something in his setup in the latter nine of the second round at the 2022 BMW Championship, Rahm rattled with the best of them to come in the span of a calendar year. Averaging +1.45 hits per round in his last five measured events, Rahm is back to his own 2021 version.
Whether this is just a short period of time or a long period of time will determine Rahm’s 2023. If the former reigns supreme, look for Rahm to land a few wins on the DP World Tour and maybe even one of the newly enhanced events on the PGA Tour. However, if the latter prevails, the world number 5 will have a real chance to end his year as he started the year before: on top of the golf world and with a new grand slam trophy, shiny on his cloak.
