How John Rahm won the Masters in swimming fashion

Mark SchlabachESPN senior writer7:47 PM ETRead 5 minutes

Augusta, Ga. — On the day Seve Ballesteros celebrated his 66th birthday — and the 40th anniversary of his second Masters victory — the fourth Spanish champion was crowned Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.

Jon Rahm, who started the day 4 strokes behind Brooks Koepka on the leaderboard, outscored the LIV Golf League star over 30 holes to win the 72-hole 12-under green jacket at the 87th edition of The Masters. He beat Koepka and three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson by 4 strokes.

Rahm, 28, is the first player from a European country to win both the Masters and the US Open. He captured the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines. Rahm returned to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking with his win at Augusta National.

He joins Rahm Ballesteros (1980 and 1983), Jose Maria Olazabal (1994 and 1999) and Sergio Garcia (2017) as Masters champions from Spain.

Here’s how Rahm won the second major championship of his career at the Masters:

In the final victory, Rahm defeated one of the LIV Golf League captains in Sunday’s nine-hour battle between the former world No. 1s and suffered a loss on the PGA Tour.

Koepka and Rahm returned to the course Sunday at 8:30 a.m. ET after the third round was interrupted Saturday due to heavy rain. Immediately, Rahm took the upper hand. He made a 9-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole, but Koepka missed an 11-foot par attempt. Just like that, Koepka’s lead was cut from four strokes to two.

After both players carded 1-over 73s in the third round, Koepka took a 2-stroke lead into the final 18 holes. They were back on the course for over two hours playing in the last group.

Both players posted pars on the first two holes, then Rahm birdied the par-4 third in the first, cutting Koepka’s lead to just one shot. Koepka made bogey on the next hole and they were tied. After Koepka posted another bogey on the par-3 sixth, Rahm took his first lead of the day. Rahm didn’t relinquish the lead and extended it to five when he hung in the 15th hole.

Rahm was one of the most complete players on the field all week. He hit 80.4% of fairways, 62.5% of greens and averaged 1.68 per hole.

The most surprising thing about Rahm’s victory at Augusta National was how well the race started for him. He birdied the first hole for double bogey on Thursday. As he walked to the second tee, Rahm said he thought of Balsteros’ famous quote after four-putting at Augusta: “I miss, I miss, I miss, I do.”

Ballesteros, who died of a brain tumor in May 2011, was Rahm’s golf idol growing up in Barrica, Spain.

“If you’re going to make a double or a four-putt, it’s probably the first hole — 71 holes to make it,” Rahm said.

Rahm was 9 over the final 17 holes and shared the first-round lead with Koepka and Norway’s Viktor Hovland. Rahm shot a 3-under 69 in the second round and a 1-over 73 in the third, which was played in a rain that continued to pour water on the greens until Sunday morning.

Playing in the final round of a major for the first time in his career, Rahm largely avoided the big mistakes that plagued Kepka in Sunday’s round. Rahm has shown once again that he can get behind him on the sport’s biggest stage. In the year At the 2021 US Open, he trailed three co-leaders by 3 shots after 54 holes and came back to win.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Rahm is only the fourth player to overcome a multi-shot deficit after 54 holes and win both the Masters and the US Open. The others were Jack Nicklaus (1962 US Open, 1986 Masters), Byron Nelson (1937, 1939 US Open) and Gene Sarazen (1922 US Open, 1935 Masters).

Much of the attention this week has focused on Rory McIlroy’s quest for a career-high feat (he missed the cut), Tiger Woods’ return to Augusta National (he withdrew before play resumed on Sunday) and Scotty Scheffler’s attempt to win back-to-back green jackets (for 10th tied), Rahm is largely ignored.

While Rahm’s game has cooled over the past month, he has been playing like the best player in the world. Starting with the 2022 Tour Championship, Rahm has now won six times and has 11 top-10 finishes in 14 starts.

In the first four months McIlroy, Rahm and Scheffler battled for the No. 1 spot, with Rahm sneaking onto the green jacket at Buller’s Cabin, there was much debate as to who was now the best.