He barely missed a few centimeters to sink the eagle that would have forced a playoff, but this time the ball did not want to go in and Jon Rham had to settle for a second place in the tournament where, in 2017, he began his winning career as a professional: the Farmer Insurance Open. Australian Marc Leishman took the victory and the $1.3 million that came with it. Rahm, with just over $800,000 in consolation, added the necessary points in the world ranking to be able to become the world number one next week if two circumstances occur: that he wins the Waste Management Phoenix Open (played very close to his home) and that the current world number one, Brooks Koepka, does not finish in the top three in Saudi Arabia, where he will play the Saudi International.

Rahm, currently number three in the world (Rory McIlroy is ranked second behind Koepka) is enjoying a streak of spectacular play and results, as, with this Farmer Insurance, is the fifth time in the last seven tournaments in which the Barrika native has finished in the top two.

The Spanish player left the Farmer with a double bitter taste: on the one hand, for not having won, and on the other, for having mistakenly believed that with the birdie he holed on the 18th he forced the playoff. And it is that Rahm did not know that Leishman had made birdie on the 18th and that, therefore, he needed an eagle to level the score. “I thought he (Leishman) made par because I didn’t hear any screams or applause from the audience. I was convinced. It’s a sour feeling,” said the Biscayan.