Nothing was more gratifying than an uphill reach the 18th green to declare the green coat on a day when Spanish stars lined up. Sunday is the birthdate of his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros, and this is the 40-year anniversary of Ballesteros winning his 2nd Masters title.
Rahm accepted his spouse and 2 kids, and as he strolled towards the scoring room, there was two-time Masters champ José María Olazábal in his green coat for the greatest hug of all.
Rahm won for the 4th time this year — simply as Scottie Scheffler did a year ago when he won the Masters — and recovered the No. 1 world ranking from Scheffler.
This Masters had a bit of whatever — hot and damp at the start, a cold front with wind that fell 3 trees on Friday, putting surface areas filled from rain on Saturday and a marathon surface Sunday as Rahm and Koepka went 30 holes.
Koepka assisted to lead the way with one miscue after another, losing the lead for the very first time considering that Thursday afternoon when he cracked 20 feet past the hole from behind the par-3 6th and made his 2nd bogey. There would be more to come.
Worse yet, Koepka went 22 successive holes Sunday without a birdie — from the par-5 8th hole in the early morning of the 3rd round up until the par-5 13th in last round. By then, he was 3 shots behind and Rahm all however sealed it with his next shot.
He struck a low cut around a tree from right of the 14th fairway and it captured a slope perfect on the 14th green and fed down to 3 feet for a birdie. When Koepka three-putted for bogey, it referred ending up.
Rahm hooked his tee shot into the trees on the last hole and didn’t reach the fairway. No matter. He highlighted the fairway, struck wedge to 3 feet and tapped in for the triumph.
The leaderboard was cluttered with significant champs and a tint of Saudi-moneyed LIV Golf. Mickelson and Koepka both belong to the competing circuit. Former Masters champ Patrick Reed, another gamer who defected to LIV, closed with a 68 and connected for 4th with Jordan Spieth (66) and Russell Henley.
Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont., was the only Canadian to make it, ending up connected for 29th at 1-over.
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Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
