The Green Jacket
So once the dust settled and Jon Rahm slipped into his green jacket, I couldn’t help but think of all the other storylines that lingered over soggy Augusta….ok the obvious is a well deserved champion who not only played the best that week but went in as one of the odds on favorites and delivered. With the ghost of Seve and the support from his Spaniard brethren in Ollie and the once combustible Sergio behind him, it was a win for the ages. His second major and in the last 6 months alone he has 9 top tens, 4 wins, a second and a 3rd. The man is not on a little hot streak, he has put together a run for the ages. On top of it all, he seems to get it …he has spoken eloquently about the current divide in golf and his feelings towards the opportunity that the PGA tour afforded him and the desire to compete week in and week out among the best in the world; bravo !! it seems like yesterday, he would become volcanic after missing a 3 footer, maturity is now evident.
That means he should dominate the remaining majors correct ?? I think not ….this is where I found it fascinating that week. Brooksy the DB found his game again and until a Sunday meltdown, they could have been slipping that blazer on the former bash brother himself. Not only did Senor douche make a run but the leader board had a handful of lets now refer as "livers" ….Phil, after carding 76s on the LIV muni courses regularly, makes another run out of nowhere to grab an inexplicable second and the cheat master himself and fellow muni player, the fairway villain; Patrick Reed got a top 5 as well. Does this mean that all LIV players who are eligible to compete in the remaining majors will achieve similar results, I doubt it…I think Augusta like no other venue allows familiarity to breed success for many years, look no further than Freddy Couples and Bernard Langer; either way, we'll see how they fare at Oak Hill, LA CC and Royal Liverpool.
I for one am intrigued with the newfound rivalry between Rahm and Scottie Sheffler ; between the 2 of them they've won 10 tournaments in the past year. Lastly, it seems as if the "golden boy" Jordan's game is back and ready to win another major. He, Rory, Max Homa, Tony Finau and a number of others are knocking at the door hoping to ruin the 2 man show. It should be great theatre as we head into a nice stretch with 2 majors and 2 designated events over the next 5 weeks with loaded fields in each…enjoy