Can Jon Rahm repeat his 2021 US Open victory and become the eighth player to win the tournament back-to-back?
Rahm won his first major at the US Open in 2021 at Torrey Pines and is hoping to do it again in 2022 at Brookline.
The Spaniard is looking to maintain his US Open title after his first major victory last year in San Diego, the first time anyone from his country had won the tournament. He will be up against a strong field competing at the Country Club at Brookline, MA this weekend.
In 2021 he birdied the last two holes to beat Louis Oosthuizen by one stroke on a day that he knew would end well for him: “It felt like such a fairytale story that I knew it was going to have a happy ending. I could just tell, just going down the fairway after that first tee shot, that second shot, and that birdie, I knew there was something special in the air. I could just feel it. I just knew it.”
Rahm’s 2022 season
One year later, the golf world is divided between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Invitational and Rahm is focused on competing at a major tournament with history and tradition. “I play golf for the love of the game and I want to play against the best in the world,” he said.
He is currently ranked number two in the Official World Golf Ranking and is no. 10 on the FedEx Cup Season Standings. Rahm got off to a hot start in 2022 with a second-place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and a third-place position at the Farmers Insurance Open. On May 1 he won at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, holding off Tony Finau by one stroke.
The Arizona State University alumni hasn’t performed as well at the first two majors of 2022 with a T-27 finish at the Masters and a disappointing T-47 at the PGA Championship. His T-10 performance at the Memorial Tournament at the beginning of June has provided him with the confidence he needs to face a strong international field at Brookline.
Tough competition in Boston
Rahm will be facing the world’s best at the US Open in Massachusetts and will be up against Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau, who finished in the top three spots at the Canadian Open last weekend. The Northern Irishman is playing at his highest level since 2020 and is a favorite to win.
Other strong candidates to win at Brookline are the 2022 Masters winner, Scottie Scheffler and the Australian-born runner up at Augusta, Cameron Smith. Names like Jordan Spieth and Victor Hovland are also at the top of the list of fan favorites, but who nobody is talking about to have a chance to win are the LIV defectors: Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.