Rahmenjoys meteoricrise toNo. 4after thirdtriumph

Less than 18 months after turning professional, Jon Rahm finds himself ranked fourth in the world after his third win of the season, this time in the DP World Tour championship.

A closing 67 at Jumeirah Golf Estates gave the Spanish player a one-shot victory over Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, his third worldwide win in a remarkable rookie season.

Rahm joined the paid ranks in June last year and only became a European Tour member ahead of the WGC-Mexico Championship in March, but finished third that week and lost out to Dustin Johnson in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies match play event on his next start.

The 23-year-old then won the Irish Open by six shots in June and also enjoyed a strong end to the PGA Tour season, finishing in the top seven in all four FedEx Cup playoff events.

“I’ve been saying all week what I’ve done this year, especially on the European Tour to go from no status to an affiliate member and now to win two Rolex Series events, it’s something unbelievable,” said Rahm.

“When you accomplish something in life it’s always a great feeling. When you do something that really wasn’t a goal and you accomplish something that was years down the road it is just such an incredible feeling.

“It’s like when you have an errands list and you finish two hours before. It’s very, very special.”

Rahm began the final round a shot behind Justin Rose and was three shots adrift at the turn, but came home in 33 as Rose surprisingly stumbled over the closing stretch.

“I was a little anxious before teeing off for whatever reason,” Rahm added. “I really wanted to win. I had not been in contention really since New York in the FedEx Cup.

“I wanted it really bad and I couldn’t calm down going out to the course. Putts weren’t dropping but when I birdied 10 I’m like, ‘OK, this is a good moment’.

“That was followed by about three or four horrible iron shots but I managed to make pars and when I made that birdie putt on 14 I was tied for the lead.

“I took advantage of a lucky bounce on 16 and thankfully that was enough.”

“Likewhenyou haveanerrands listandyou finishtwohours before”