Weekend wrap: Rahm rockets home at Torrey Pines

By Australian Golf Digest

Gifted Spaniard Jon Rahm signed off on his first US PGA Tour victory in commanding fashion, holing a 60-foot eagle putt on the 72nd green to win the Farmers Insurance Open by three strokes.

The former world No.1 amateur also birdied the 71st hole to break clear of a packed leading bunch before authoring the signature moment of an action-filled week at Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego. A stroke ahead, Rahm laced a piercing second shot to the par-5 that finished at the back edge of the green. With water lurking not far beyond the cup, the 22-year-old proceeded to let the galleries – as well as the golf world – know he’s a force to be reckoned with:

The 3-3 finish capped an inward nine of 30 on the notoriously difficult South course and a 65 for the round after Rahm had earlier eagled the par-5 13th hole. His 7-under effort on Sunday was the best final round by a shot – and it began with a three-putt bogey.

Entering the day in 13th place, Rahm finished almost an hour ahead of an eclectic group of pursuers – including two-time winner Brandt Snedeker, Tony Finau, Patrick Rodgers, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell III, C.T. Pan and J.J Spaun – but when they found more closing bogeys than birdies, the title was Rahm’s. Howell and Pan shared second place at 10-under.

Rahm technically turned pro after the 2016 US Open, but he had already made his presence known on the US Tour, turning in two top-10s on the circuit during his amateur career. He wasted little time securing his card for this season, thanks to a third-place finish at the Quicken Loans National and runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open. The performances made the two-time Ben Hogan Award winner a trendy pick as a breakout star for the 2017 campaign. A forecast, it seems, that has already come true.

 

* Melbourne’s Todd Sinnott claimed his first victory as a pro with a 64-65 finish for an emphatic victory at the Asian Tour’s Leopalace21 Myanmar Open. The 24-year-old broke free from a congested leaderboard over the last nine holes to defeat Spaniard Carlos Pigem by three shots.

Big-hitting Sinnott said the breakthrough caught him by surprise, especially considering he found water on seven different occasions during the week at Pun Hlaing Golf Club. His impetus came from a 10-under closing round earlier in the month to finish runner-up at Asian Tour qualifying school.

“I’m super-excited,” Sinnott said. “I didn’t really expect to win today, so I’m just super-excited, that’s all I can say. I got a lot of confidence from [his qualifying school finish], just knowing that I could shoot a low score in the last round. I drew on that and tried to birdie as many holes as possible today.”

* Rising South Korean star Jeunghun Wang narrowly missed an outright victory at the European Tour’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters before defeating Swede Joakim Lagergren and South African Jaco Van Zyl on the first extra hole.

Wang, who won consecutive European Tour events last year and began the Qatar Masters ranked 60th in the world, is now on the cusp of a Masters invitation this April thanks to the ranking boost (he’ll move to about 40th). He also emulated Matteo Manassero, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Sergio Garcia as players to win their first three official European Tour events before their 22nd birthday.

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/825834666036916224

* At the LPGA’s opening event of 2017, Brittany Lincicome became the first American winner on the circuit since her namesake Brittany Lang claimed the US Women’s Open last July. Lincicome sealed the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic by defeating countrywoman Lexi Thompson with a birdie on the first playoff hole after the pair finished the 72 holes at 26-under-par. It was Lincicome’s seventh LPGA title.