Jon Rahm grabbed the top spot in the PGA rankings with a victory at the Memorial Tournament after experiencing a checkered final round on Sunday.
The Spaniard built an eight-shot lead on the turn shrink to three with three holes left and his best shot ever turned out to be a bogey due to a penalty.
But all that matters in the end is the little exchange he had with Jack Nicklaus at the end of the day, when he had just been crowned champion.
As Palmer approached the end of the course dangerously, Rahm was awarded a two-stroke penalty in the 16th, as he moved his ball before he had time to make his stroke. However, he had just made a superb approach to succeed in a birdie.
“It doesn’t change the outcome of the tournament. It just puts a little bit of an asterisk in the sense that I wish I could just keep this birdie in mind because it was one of the best shots in life.” Rahm said.
However, Rahm managed to protect his lead with a par on the last flag. Under difficult conditions, he handed in a 3-over 75 to beat Palmer by three strokes.
“This is one of my best performances for life. Yesterday I had one of my best rounds ever and finished tonight with a roller coaster performance.” Rahm said.
Thanks to this victory, he became the second Spaniard after Seve Ballasteros to occupy the first rank in the world.
Rahm has made fiery emotion his trademark. He demonstrated this on the 11th hole, when his tee shot sailed left into a stream. The 25-year-old man did not hesitate to slam his club on the ground in an angry flight. His almost perfect shot on the 16th hole earned him a good feeling smile, before he got his penalty.
Whether it was a birdie or a bogey, the move in the 16th was clearly a winning move one that would have made Ballesteros proud.
