John Rahm Reclaims World No.1 Position With Genesis Invitational Win

John Rahm continued his stunning run of form with his third win of the year in the Genesis Invitational to reclaim the World No.1 spot.

The Spaniard began the final round at Riviera Country Club three ahead of nearest challenger Max Homa, and the pair remained in the top two places through the day before Rahm finally closed out a two-shot victory with a final round of 69.

The day could barely have started better for Rahm, but his birdie on the par 5 first was matched by Homa to keep in touch. After the third hole, Homa was no doubt eyeing his second win of the year. He holed a nine-foot putt for birdie and capitalised on a rare Rahm bogey to move just one behind. That was how things remained for the next four holes, as the duo made three pars each before they both birdied the par 4 seventh.

Rahm restored his three-shot lead on the eighth, when he hit his second birdie in a row while Homa floundered with a bogey. Still Homa kept coming back. On the very next hole, he holed a 14ft putt for birdie to head to the turn just two shots off the lead. It got even more encouraging for Homa on the 10th as he drew level with another birdie as Rahm found a bunker before settling for bogey.

Two holes later, it was Homa who moved into an outright lead following another bogey from Rahm. His joy was short-lived. On the very next hole, disaster struck when Homa found a tree with his tee shot, and eventually surrendered his lead as Rahm made par.

Two birdies in the next three holes saw Rahm claim a two-shot advantage, and that’s how it stayed. Rahm finished off his round landing his third shot to just 19 inches from the hole for a tap in. As the ball inevitably dropped into the hole, Rahm clenched his fist in triumph. 

Later, Rahm spoke about how he can keep his momentum going. He said: "I guess I just keep doing what I've been doing. You know, I've been obviously doing a lot of the things I needed to do properly every single day and that's the important thing, right? Just keeping that daily process as good as I have been. 

"Obviously I've been extremely disciplined my whole career, but right now I'm seeing the dividends of a lot of the hard work over the years. So just keep doing the small things and keep enjoying it, having fun. Obviously when you're playing good it's really fun and when you're winning tournaments, extremely fun, but got to enjoy the tough moments as well. Try to take it all in and, like I said, keep doing the little things properly every day and hopefully keep putting myself in position to win."

Not only did the win give Rahm his 10th PGA Tour win, but he’d moved to the World No.1 position, taking over from Scottie Scheffler, for the fifth time in less than three years. Given his incredible form, it could be some time before he gives it up.