Major runaway: Jon Rahm wins 2023 Masters title
The chants rang out around the golf course on Sunday. Toward Augusta National’s Amen Corner in the final round of the Masters, a pair of boys more likely hailing from Spanish Town in Baton Rouge than Spain itself shouted toward the 12th tee box, “Vale, vale.”
These vibes carried, down around the bend at hole No. 13, up 14, down 15, across to 16, up to 17 and, finally, around the 18th green. “Ole, ole, ole,” the gallery roared.
There in the midst of it all, Jon Rahm, the massive man from the tiny town in the Basque country, tried desperately to slap his golf ball close to the yellow flagstick in front of him. He did just that. The decibels increased. A putt fell.
Names were thrown around along the ropes. Seve. Sergio. Ollie.
Now, Jon.
“There’s got to be something here about having a Spanish passport,” Rahm said after capturing the 2023 Masters title on Sunday evening. “I don’t know, there’s something about the grounds that transmits into all of us.”
There’s no discernible connection between the northern coast of Spain and Augusta National. One resides along rocky cliffs guarding it from the Cantabarian Sea. The other, a palace to Southern hospitality, wealth and, of course, golf.
Whatever this invisible force, bloodline, or divine connection, Spaniards keep winning at Augusta National. On Sunday, Rahm became the fourth in a line that started with Seve Ballesteros 40 years ago and most recently included Sergio Garcia in 2017.
“I think we’re spoiled,” said José María Olazábal, the two-time Masters champ who awaited Rahm on the clubhouse lawn.
What Rahm, now a two-time major winner via his win at the 2021 U.S. Open, accomplished on Sunday — and throughout this week — transcends English or Spanish. Simply put, it was greatness in the most spectacularly boring way.
He hung just above the madness of a leaderboard that flashed more names than a phone book on Sunday afternoon by hitting greens, scrambling when needed and making putts when he had to.
Rahm overtook, then batted away playing partner Brooks Koepka, the 54-hole leader, by hole 6, turning their mano-a-mano duel into a plea for “no más” by day’s end.
By the 18th hole, Rahm’s work was done. Listo. The patrons forming the gallery around the day’s 30th and final hole (a byproduct of a suspended third round that ran into Sunday) reared on the edge of their fold-up chairs, ready to pounce when Rahm canned his final putt. A few jumped the gun. A practice swing fooled them. No matter. At 12-under for the tournament and holding a four-shot lead over Koepka and Phil Mickelson walking up 18, the putt was a formality.
“The way Jon played today was pretty impressive,” Koepka said. “The game, it’s so good right now. It’s amazing to see all these guys compete. When they are at their best, they are all tough to beat.”
These moments in golf are rare. There’s a certain randomness to what can happen atop a leaderboard at Augusta National (Danny Willett and Charl Schwartzel have Masters titles, for goodness sake). This tournament itself has been a weird Masters. Rain delays. Falling trees. You know, the usual.
But Koepka vs. Rahm is the kind of heavyweight bout Don King would dream of. It’s firepower vs. more firepower. It’s PGA Tour vs. LIV. (Koepka’s general indifference toward his current employer, aside.) It’s a past major champ finding his form vs. another who feels deserving of more prominent titles than he actually owns.
Koepka and Rahm smacked balls along a packed driving range before 8 a.m. on Sunday. They stood 10 players apart, Koepka all the way to the left and Rahm tucked in the middle. Rahm was parked between Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson — two of the previous four Masters champions. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Departing the practice green a few minutes before Rahm, Scheffler tapped Rahm’s caddie Adam Hayes on his right shoulder. “Good luck today, boys,” Scheffler said.
If Sunday’s final round was a heavyweight bout, the final 12 holes of Koepka and Rahm’s third round morning session served as a woozy undercard.
The sharpness that vaulted Koepka to the top of the leaderboard dissipated. He hit just seven greens in the round after doing so 29 times over his first 36 holes. Koepka paired birdies on holes 2 and 8 with bogeys on 7, 12 and 17 to keep Rahm within two shots.
As Koepka bobbled, Rahm’s haymakers missed their marks. Rahm reached the par-5 13th in three shots, then three-putted for bogey, lipping out a short par putt. He followed that by missing makeable birdie putts on 14 and 15, before bogeying 16 via a wayward tee shot.
All the while smiley Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who finished 6-under for the tournament, ripped off five straight birdies on the back nine to pull within three shots of Koepka by morning’s end.
“I mean, I can’t be worrying too much about what he’s doing,” Rahm said in a brief media session between rounds. “My objective today is to focus on my own game and what I can control. Whatever Brooks does is whatever Brooks does.”
And so Rahm did.
The play that had Koepka bordering on a runaway on Thursday and Friday fell off. He left chips short. His putter failed him. The four-shot lead he nursed entering the day was down to two on his and Rahm’s first hole of the third round restart Sunday morning.
All the while Rahm was methodical. He wasn’t quite his gang busters self from earlier in the week. That version bore through Augusta National after double bogeying his first hole of the tournament, ripping off a 9-under score over his final 17 first-round holes on the day.
Rahm, though, was steady on Sunday afternoon. He hit his spots. He scrambled at times. He held tough. Koepka’s undoing, perhaps a product of too many 54-hole LIV golf events, aided in the effort. A Rahm par and Koepka bogey on the 6th hole gave Rahm his first outright lead.
He never relented.
There was something in the air on Sunday around Augusta. It wasn’t the smell of spring peeking through an otherwise cloudy week. It wasn’t the last few cups of Crow’s Nest ale patrons guzzled near the 18th green.
No. This was something different. Algo Español. Something Spanish.
Rahm tried his damndest to disregard the attention along the ropes. He couldn’t. Fans mentioned Seve by name. That name carries weight in this game. A five-time major champion. Two Masters titles. All before he died in 2011 at 54 from brain cancer.
The Masters has a way with these things. Tradition. Nostalgia. An eerie ability to connect past and present. It’s in the tournament’s DNA. This must be the case then with Spanish golfers.
Sunday would’ve been Ballesteros’ 66th birthday. Fitting.
Rahm hails from Barrika on the northern coast of Spain. Ballesteros’ hometown of Pedreña is 65 miles west, up the coastline. Olazábal, too, is from this part of the country, 85 miles east of Barrika.
“Pretty much every great-name Spanish player has won here,” Rahm said. He’s right. Ballesteros. Olazábal. Garcia. All of them won major titles. All of them own green jackets.
Rahm said he’s never allowed a golf tournament to make him cry. He almost did Sunday. The 18th fairway. That whole scene. It’s emotional stuff. But it was a simple four letters that brought Rahm back to the verge of waterworks in his green jacket ceremony and in his post-round press conference: “Seve.”
“This one was for Seve,” Rahm said. “He was up there helping, and help he did.”
The kicks with which Rahm climbed the 18th fairway were highlighted green along the soles. No doubt a nod to the jacket he’d slip on minutes later. They included a singular word in white lettering along their base, “Vamos.”
Rahm will almost assuredly return to Augusta National next year with a new getup and swanky shoes. He’ll have a green jacket waiting for him and a Champions Dinner menu to set (Tapas anyone?). Whatever spikes Rahm packs are likely to have a fresh tagline emblazoned on them. After Sunday, one word ought to be added to the shortlist:
“Campeón”
Top Masters final scores
Jon Rahm (-12)
Phil Mickelson (-8)
Brooks Koepka (-8)
Jordan Spieth (-7)
Patrick Reed (-7)
Russell Henley (-7)
Cameron Young (-6)
Viktor Hovland (-6)
Sahith Theegala (-5)
Scottie Scheffler (-4)
Matt Fitzpatrick (-4)
Xander Schauffele (-4)
Collin Morkikawa (-4)
Spanish winners and the Masters
- Seve Ballesteros (1980, 1983)
- Jose-Maria Olazabal (1994, 1999)
- Sergio Garcia (2017)
- Jon Rahm (2023)
Masters prize money breakdown
1st — $3.24 million
2nd — $1.944 million
3rd — $1.224 million
4th — $864,000
5th — $720,000
6th — $648,000
7th — $603,000
8th — $558,000
9th — $522,000
10th — $486,000
Who won the Masters: recent champion history
2023 — Jon Rahm (Spain)
2022 — Scottie Scheffler (USA)
2021 — Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)
2020 — Dustin Johnson (USA)
2019 — Tiger Woods (USA)
2018 — Patrick Reed (USA)
2017 — Sergio Garcia (Spain)
2016 — Danny Willett (UK)
2015 — Jordan Spieth (USA)
2014 — Bubba Watson (USA)
2013 — Adam Scott (Australia)
2012 — Bubba Watson (USA)
2011 — Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)
This story was originally published April 9, 2023 at 7:21 PM.
