Jon Rahm is known for letting his temper get the best of him. At the BMW Championship, however, the Spaniard stayed calm after a major mental mistake and brushed off a 43-foot bomb by Dustin Johnson on the final hole with a 66-footer of his own on the first playoff hole to win the BMW Championship for an unlikely come-from-behind victory.
Rahm said he was “proud of being able to maintain my composure” after inexplicably lifting his ball on the fifth green during the third round without marking it, resulting in a one-shot penalty – something hard to do considering he uses a poker chip as a ball marker. Instead of blowing a gasket, however, Rahm moved on and went on a remarkable run, making nine birdies against no bogeys after the gaffe. Standing six-over par after 38 holes, Rahm played the final 34 in 10-under par – impressive on a course where four-under par was the winning score for 72 holes.
Just as he did at the Memorial at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Rahm won the BMW by performing well in virtually every aspect of the game. Rahm ranked sixth in strokes gained/off-the-tee; ninth in strokes gained/approach-the-green; 13th in strokes gained/around-the-green and sixth in strokes gained/tee-to-green. He was T-18 in driving accuracy, fifth in driving distance at 302.8 metres (331.2 yards) and fourth in greens in regulation. He also was sixth in strokes gained/putting, picking up nearly four strokes on the field on the greens. With the win Rahm rose to No.2 on the FedEx Cup standings heading into next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Rahm uses TaylorMade’s SIM driver with an Aldila Tour Green 75 TX shaft, with the adjustable weight on the sole moved towards the toe. Rahm has always favoured drivers with weight towards the toe as it allows him to more easily produce his preferred fade off the tee.
Rahm also hit 17 of 18 greens in the final round with his TaylorMade P750 irons. Rahm has used the P750 model for several years but weakened the lofts on them after the COVID-19-related break because he was hitting his irons further and wanted to better control the trajectory and angle of descent. For the week Rahm was T-2 in greens in regulation.
Although Rahm used a red-coloured Spider Tour mallet for a few years, he switched earlier this year to the company’s white-coloured Spider Tour Chalk, which he used to hole several big putts during a final-round 64, including a 30-footer for birdie on the long par-3 16th and the monster putt in overtime that proved to be the difference. Rahm also made a ball change earlier this year as well, switching from TaylorMade’s TP5x into the TP5 for more spin and control with his wedges.
Better control with his irons. Better control with his wedges. And over the final 31 holes he showed more control in another critical area as well.
What Jon Rahm had in the bag at the BMW Championship:
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (Aldila Tour Green 75 TX), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 15 degrees
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 19 degrees
Irons (4-PW): TaylorMade P750
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-Toe (52 degrees); TaylorMade MG2 (56, 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Chalk
