Jon Rahm had a lot to celebrate this past weekend. Rahm captured his fourth career PGA TOUR victory at the Memorial at Muirfield in Ohio and by doing so also became the new world No.1 golfer. He joins Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to reach No. 1 in the world.
Muirfield Village played tricks on the players containing some of the game’s most notable names. Since the restart, this was one of the toughest tests of the year. The course was fast and firm with only five players under par.
“Conditions were so tough,” Rahm said. “I knew I wasn’t going to play 18 perfect holes. I knew at some point something was going to go south. For the most part on the front nine, I got pretty good breaks, and I was able to get it done.”
JON RAHM WITB
- SIM 10.5 driver
- SIM 15.0 fairway
- SIM 18.0 fairway
- P750 4-PW
- MG Hi Toe 52°
- MG2 56° and 60°
- Spider X chalk
- TP5 #10
Tiger Woods & the Canadians at the Memorial
Tiger Woods, in his first competition since Feb. 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, shot 76 and tied for 40th.
Tiger Woods made the cut on the number at the Memorial this week in Ohio, but was unsurprisingly rusty in his first golf tournament back after the pandemic. And while no Canadian made it into the winner’s circle, three did make the cut, with Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes finishing tied for 54th, tied for 22nd, and tied for 6th, respectively. Hughes, who has had a resurgent few weeks, qualified for the U.S. Open with his finish, joining Hadwin and Conners in the field later this year.
With all eyes on the game’s top draw who was making his first appearance since February, had struggled with issues relating to his surgically-repaired back early in the season, skipping the Players Championship, which was cut short due to the pandemic. He played in a charity event in May, kick-starting golf’s return, and looked healthy and sharp.
This week he made the cut on the number after a difficult second round that saw him record a 4-over 76. He came back strongly in the third round, firing a 1-under 71 before closing with his second 76 of the week. Woods finished 6-over par for the tournament, which was good enough for a tie for 40th.
“I think that getting back into the flow and competing again and playing at this level, I hadn’t done that in a while,” Woods explained. “Playing home and playing out here is so very different, and making sure that I stay sharp and don’t make any silly mistakes and dump the ball in the wrong spots or give myself bad angles. That’s one of the things about playing competitive golf that’s very different from playing at home.”
Making the cut was a small victory, Woods agreed, as he chases his 83rd win on the PGA Tour. “Absolutely – to get a couple more rounds in me competitively,” he said. “I was fortunate the cut came back.”
Woods applauded the setup of Muirfield, a golf course run under the direction of Jack Nicklaus, arguably the game’s greatest all-time player. “It’s tough, it’s fast,” Woods said. “The golf course is right where they want it. The ball is starting to run out on the greens. Some of the fairways are starting to chase.”