Dave Feschuk: There’s Rahm at the top as Spaniard rallies to win Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga.-Jon Rahm opened the Masters with a four-putt, a double-bogey butchering of Augusta National's first green that might have injected a year's worth of doubt into a psyche more fragile.

He began Sunday's weather-induced 30-hole Masters marathon no less than four strokes in arrears to leader Brooks Koepka. And given Koepka's seemingly impenetrable swagger and superior career resume - the Floridian came into the tournament with four majors to Rahm's one - it would have been easy enough to be intimidated.

So it says something about Rahm's powers of resilience, or perhaps Spain's powers at Augusta, that by the time Rahm knocked in a par putt on the 18th green Sunday evening, he had relegated both the four-putt and the four-shot deficit into the category of mostly irrelevant history. By the time golden hour rolled around, Rahm's final putt was securing a green jacket by a remarkable four-shot margin.

It was Rahm's second major championship, following his victory at Torrey Pines in the 2021 U.S. Open. But perhaps more meaningful to Rahm was this: It was Spain's sixth win at the Masters, nudging his homeland ahead of South Africa for most victories at Augusta National Golf Club by a country not named the United States.

There's got to be something here about having a Spanish passport," Rahm said.

That Rahm's Georgia breakthrough happened on the birthday of the late Seve Ballesteros, a two-time Masters winner and Rahm's hero, made the occasion even more meaningful. Ballesteros would have turned 66 Sunday if he hadn't died of brain cancer in 2011. While his loss still hurts, Rahm said his presence was felt.

For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of (Ballesteros's 1983 Masters) win, his birthday, on Easter Sunday, it's incredibly meaningful," Rahm said. I know (Ballesteros) was pulling for me today."

A lot of Sunday's result, of course, had to do with the once-electric Koepka suffering an inopportune power outage. Koepka's Sunday won't go down as one of Augusta National's particularly epic collapses; there've been many more dramatic and more comprehensive. But after Koepka played the opening 44 holes in 13 under par, there's no denying something changed. He played the final 28 holes at 5 over par, at one point going 22 straight holes without a birdie. Koepka didn't leak oil so much as he became physically incapable of stepping on the gas pedal.

I led for three rounds, and just didn't do it on the last day," Koepka said. That's it. Plain and simple."

Still, there are PGA Tour loyalists who'll find it fitting that Koepka, a defector to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, joined LIV CEO Greg Norman as the only player to go 12 under par or better through the opening 36 holes of a Masters and not win the green jacket. On the flip side of that coin, Koepka and fellow LIV player Phil Mickelson finished tied for second at 8 under par and cohort Patrick Reed tied for fourth a stroke back. It was, in many ways, a validation for a tour that had been accused of sentencing its well-compensated players to competitive irrelevance.

This weekend's results suggest LIV Golf's best players, even if they're residing in relative obscurity, shouldn't be overlooked when the season's remaining three majors roll around.

We're still the same people," Koepka said. I know if I'm healthy, I know I can compete. I don't think any of the guys that played this event thought otherwise, either ... I think that's just manufactured by the media that we can't compete anymore; that we are washed up."

On a day that began with 47-year-old Tiger Woods withdrawing from the tournament with plantar fasciitis, Mickelson, the 52-year-old rebel leader of the LIV tour, did his best impersonation of Tom Brady or LeBron James. Pick the ancient performer of your liking. Mickelson's final-round 65, which gave him the clubhouse lead at 8 under, was beyond impressive. A little less than two years after he became the oldest major champion in history by winning the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest player to finish in the top five at the Masters.

An emotional Mickelson said he hoped this week could be a stepping stone" to bigger things.

I have a unique opportunity ... to do things in the game that not many people have had a chance to do later in life," he said.

Mickelson's move to LIV Golf has been an obvious source of stress. A year ago he stayed away from the Masters, despite his status as a three-time champion, in an acknowledgment that he'd be a distraction that would steal focus from the golf. LIV colleague Harold Varner said Sunday that in the past year Mickelson's life has been turned upside down - some his fault, some not."

Varner caught himself, perhaps aware that he was speaking out of school.

And I think - I don't know what he's really been through - but from the outside looking in, I'd be pretty emotional as well," Varner said.

Sunday's purest emotion, of course, was exuded by Rahm. In a sport where a would-be run at a major can unravel in what amounts to a moment, there was a chance Rahm's chances at a green jacket could have slipped away shortly after his first-round tee time Thursday morning. Though he'd come into the tournament as one of the favourites, a four-putt on No. 1 saw his stock tank. And there are plenty of golfers whose spirits might have sunk with the odds.

But at that pivotal moment, Rahm, who has been accused of running too hot, met the moment with humour. He recalled the legendary explanation of another four-putt at another Masters long attributed to the unflappable Ballesteros.

I remembered Seve's quote ... I just kept thinking to myself, Well, I miss, I miss, I miss, I make,' " Rahm said. Move on to the next. I carried a little bit of that negative energy into the tee shot on 2, hit it about 10 yards further than I usually do and moved on with my day."

On Sunday, once Koepka faded and Rahm found a way to get over the hiccup of a potentially wayward tee shot on No. 18 to par the final hole and shoot a final-round 69, the Spaniard said he repeatedly heard Ballesteros's name.

I kept hearing, Seve! Seve! Seve! Do it for Seve! I heard that the entire back nine," Rahm said. That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win; that might have been the hardest thing."

Following in the footsteps of a national lineage while paying tribute to a personal hero can be emotional, indeed.

This one was for Seve. He was up there helping, and help he did," Rahm said. Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole."

Dave Feschuk is a Toronto-based sports columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @dfeschuk