Rahm outlasts Homa at Riviera, returns to No. 1
LOS ANGELES >> Jon Rahm returned to No. 1 in the world on Sunday by winning the Genesis Invitational with a performance that left no doubt who's playing the best golf.
Caught in a battle with hometown favorite Max Homa at Riviera Country Club, Rahm delivered two big moments with a 45-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 14th and then a tee shot to 2 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th.
He closed with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot win over Homa, a Cal alum.
“Pretty incredible,” Rahm said. “(To win) at a golf course with this legacy, this history and hosted by Tiger Woods, is such an honor.”
Patrick Cantlay got within one shot on the back nine until two bogeys. He had a 67 to finish alone in third, moving him to No. 4 in the world.
Woods had four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch and shot 73 to tie for 45th.
His success was measured in progress. It was his first time playing 72 holes since the Masters last April — Woods played only twice more since then as he tries to cope with leg and back injuries that will make PGA Tour appearances rare. He did not know if he would play again before the Masters.
Woods still had the largest gallery all the way to the end, thousands of fans packed on the hill over the 18th green to watch him close out with a par.
Then the fans turned their attention to a terrific duel between Rahm and Homa, each with two wins on the PGA Tour this season.
Rahm now has five wins in his last nine starts worldwide, dating to his win in the Spanish Open. He has not finished out of the top 10 in his past 10 tournaments.
It was his third win in five starts on the PGA Tour this year, and he already has earned more than $9 million the last two months.
This wasn't as easy as it looked at the end.
“That was a tough week and a tough Sunday,” he said.
Homa, who won at Riviera two years ago, began the final round three shots back. He quickly closed to within one shot, only for the Spaniard to come within inches of holing out from the fairway at No. 8 for a tap-in birdie, while Homa made bogey from behind the green to slip three shot behind again. Then it changed quickly. After Homa birdied the ninth from 15 feet, he drove to the far edge of the 10th green and got down in two for a birdie. Rahm went well left. His pitch was short and rolled down the back of the green, behind a bunker. He pitched onto — and then over — the green into another bunker, and he had to make a 6-footer for bogey.
Two holes later, Homa took the lead for the first time when Rahm threeputted for bogey, only for Homa to give it back with a bogey from a bad tee shot.
The par 3s won it for Rahm, with his putter and a full swing. He finished at 17-under 267 and earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse, the second straight elevated event on the PGA Tour.
Rahm now has won just more than $9.4 million in the last two months on the PGA Tour — wins at Kapalua and La Quinta and on the classic course of Riviera. He finished third in Phoenix and tied for seventh at Torrey Pines in his other two starts this year.
This is the fifth time Rahm has been No. 1 in the world.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> Bernhard Langer matched Hale Irwin's PGA Tour Champions victory record of 45, winning the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., a fifth time.
Langer, 65, matched his age with a closing 7-under 65 for a three-stroke victory over Steve Stricker (66) and Padraig Harrington (65).
“It's extremely special because we've been talking about it for so long, it seems now,” Langer said. “When I first came out here, I thought, `This is never going to happen.' ”
Langer finished at 17-under 199 on Tiburon Golf Club's Black Course. At 65 years, 5 months, 23 days, the German star extended his record as the oldest winner. He holds the top three spots on the list.
“Just right now, I just feel relieved and grateful and thankful for everybody that's been on my team and helping me through these years, ” Langer said. “Like we said, for a German kid from a village of 800 people and starting as a caddie to do what I've done, it takes a lot of people to do that, not just one.” LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR >> Lydia Ko began the new year the same way she ended 2022, with a big win and a big check as she closed with a 4-under 68 to win the Saudi Ladies International.
Ko, the No. 1 player in women's golf, held off Aditi Ashok of India to capture the richest prize among regular Ladies European Tour events. She won $750,000 from the $5 million prize fund at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
DP WORLD TOUR >> Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark claimed his seventh European tour title with a fourshot victory in the Thailand Classic at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chomburi.