Jon Rahm having 'best season of my life' and he's finally made it back to world No 1

Rahm has now tasted victory five times in his last nine worldwide starts, having also landed the Acciona Open de Espana and DP World Tour Championship towards the end of last year then the Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express before this latest triumph in a blistering start to 2023 on the PGA Tour,

"I'm having the best season of my life," admitted Rahm, who, in less than two months, has earned more than $9 million and joined Johnny Miller, who achieved the feat in 1974 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer in 1961 as the fastest players to reach three victories on the US circuit before 1 March.

On a thrilling final day in California, Rahm quickly lost a three-shot overnight lead, regained it after eight holes before then finding himself a shot behind local hero and 2021 winner Homa with six holes to play.

Rahm then rolled in a long putt for a birdie-2 at the 14th before almost making a hole-in-one with his 8-iron tee shot at the short 16th, knowing from the second he hit the shot that it had a chance.

"I guess I just keep doing what I've been doing," said Rahm in reply to being asked how he planned to try and keep his momentum going. "I've been obviously doing a lot of the things I needed to do properly every single day and that's the important thing, right? Just keeping that daily process as good as I have been.

“Obviously I've been extremely disciplined my whole career, but right now I'm seeing the dividends of a lot of the hard work over the years. So just keep doing the small things and keep enjoying it, having fun.”

Homa came close again after already winning twice this season. "It's neat to see the guys who are playing the best right now," said tournament host Tiger Woods. "You look at what Rahmbo has been doing, what Max has been doing this year, to see them rise on a golf course like this, this is what it's all about.”