Jon Rahm Makes it Two for 2023, Wins The American Express

The Spaniard has won four times in six worldwide starts. Jon Rahm is firing out of the gates in 2023, with victories in back-to-back starts.  With a final-round 68

at PGA West’s Stadium Course, Rahm secured the win at The American Express, beating PGA Tour rookie Davis Thompson by one shot. The title follows Rahm’s win at the PGA Tour’s

first event of the calendar year—the Sentry Tournament of Champions—and it’s his second victory in La Quinta. The Spaniard first won the event (then the CareerBuilder Challenge)

in 2018.  Rahm’s ballstriking was consistent all week, as he shot a pair of 64s on Thursday and Friday, followed by a solid 65 to take a share of the lead going in Sunday’s

final round.  Although the former U.S. Open champion was miles ahead of his opponent from an experience standpoint, the two were close the whole way coming down the

stretch.  “Tough, I’m not going to lie,” Rahm said of the 18-hole battle with Thompson. “The turning point was 16. He misses that tee shot, I put it in the fairway. That’s

pretty much a half-stroke penalty right there. So I knew that if I did what I needed to do, I was going to have a one-shot lead going into the last two holes, and I kept hitting

the shots that I needed.” View the original article to see embedded media. On the par-3 17th, Thompson’s tee shot looked to be out of birdie range, but his

attempt turned out to be painfully close. The University of Georgia product left the flagstick in for the lengthy putt, and his ball ricocheted off the pin. The 23-year-old’s

expression told the story: That pin may have cost him a chance at a playoff with Rahm.