It is now a year since Jon Rahm made his professional debut after a stellar career as the world’s top amateur. He finished third at the 2016 Quicken Loan National on the American Tour, heralding his professional debut in impressive style, although he had already scored two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour while still in amateur status.
Rahm has not returned to the Quicken Loan National this year and opted to make his debut at the Open de France as an official member of the European Tour in preparation for the British Open, July 20-23 (he will also compete in the Irish Open this week ).
At the venue of the French tournament, Le Golf National, which next year will host the Ryder Cup, Rahm, 22, finished tenth, seven strokes behind the winner, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Golf Digest magazine commemorated Rahm’s anniversary with “eight brilliant statistics on the Spaniard’s success”.
– 12: The PGA Tour tournaments Rahm played as a professional before to get his first victory, which came in January at the Farmers Insurance Open. Making a comparison, Jordan Spieth’s first win came after 16 attempts, Justin Thomas’ after 39 and Rory McIlroy’s after two years of competing as a professional.
– 5,495,850: Winnings in 23 tournaments. Only five players pocketed a higher amount in all of 2016.
– 9: Top-10, not counting his T-10 at the OHL Classic as an amateur. Seven have been this year, tied with Spieth, both behind Thomas, who has eight.
– 210.18: Official world ranking points Rahm has accumulated in his 23 professional starts . If we divide that figure by the number of tournaments he has played instead of the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) minimum divisor of 40, Rahm would be ranked No. 2 in the world, behind Dustin Johnson.
– 3: Cuts not passed. In the same period, Johnson has failed to pass the cut-off on four occasions.
– 3rd: In the Stroke Gained statistic overall, with a tally of 1,985 in 2017 and 2,036 total last year. Only Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler surpass him in that statistic.
– 438: The distance, in yards, of one of Rahm’s drives at Austin C.C. during this season’s WGC-Dell Match Play. On the year, Rahm is averaging more than 305 yards off the tee.
– 69.71: Average score since Rahm turned pro. Only Spieth and Fowler have better averages over the last twelve months.
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