Rahm fends off all his challengers

Jon Rahm pulled out of a four-way tie with a 12foot birdie putt on the 14th hole and then held on with pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot win Sunday in the Mexico Open in Puerto Vallarta.

Rahm won for the first time since the U.S. Open last summer at Torrey Pines, and the relief showed in the smile and the way he pumped his arm and then his fist after tapping in for par on the 18th at Vidanta Vallarta.

Tony Finau and Brandon Wu each closed with a 63, while Kurt Kitayama birdied the final hole from a back bunker for a 68. They tied for second.

Against one of the weaker fields of the year — Rahm at No. 2 was the only player from the top 15 in the world — the Spaniard was a heavy favorite and he played that way from his opening 64. He just didn’t feel any expectations.

“I like to think every time I tee it up I’m a favorite. I play to win,” Rahm said. “Fortunately, I got my seventh PGA Tour win. It was a pretty stressful weekend, all the way to the end.”

Staked to a two-shot lead going into the final round, he never trailed. But it was never easy.

Rahm’s had a one-shot lead after his lone bogey of the round on the tough par-4 10th.

Well ahead of him, Wu holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to join him at 16 under. Kitayama, playing in the final group with Rahm, got up-and-down from right of the green on the par-5 12th to tie. And then Finau went birdie-eagle-birdie to get in the mix and capped off his 63 with a birdie to make it a four-way tie.

Rahm never lost his patience. His chip left of the green on the par-5 14th raced 12 feet by the hole, but he hit his best putt of the round and made it for birdie for a one-shot lead.

“It wasn’t my best putting weekend, but I stayed aggressive,” Rahm said. “I was confident in what I was doing. I have faith in every part of my game and it showed.”

PGA Tour Champions

Steven Alker returned from a two-hour rain delay by playing a six-hole stretch in 6-under par on the back nine to race past Steve Stricker, close with a 6-under 66 and win the Insperity Invitational in The Woodlands, Texas, for his second victory this year on the PGA Tour Champions.

Alker had to make a pair of tough par saves to close out the front nine at The Woodlands and stay one shot ahead of Stricker, who was playing for the first time in six months.

Alker birdied three straight holes starting at No. 11, and then he effectively put the tournament away by rolling in an eagle putt on the par-5 15th to build a four-shot lead.

Stricker and Brandt Jobe each shot 70 and tied for second, four shots behind. Alker finished at 18-under 198.

DP World Tour

Home favorite Adri Arnaus finally won a playoff to beat Oliver Bekker at the Catalunya Championship and claim his first European tour win in Girona, Spain.

Arnaus, who is from Barcelona in northeast Spain near Girona, trailed overnight leader Bekker by seven shots at the start of the day. But he carded a final-round 7-under 65 to pull level with Bekker, who shot even-par 72.

In the playoff, Arnaus and Becker made par on five trips to the 18th hole, but when they went to the 17th Bekker’s bogey gave Arnaus the title.

Arnaus, 27, had previously finished runner-up five times on the European tour.