Mexico Open: Jon Rahm earns first victory

Jon Rahm won the inaugural Mexico Open in dramatic manner for his first victory of the season, On Sunday.

The Spaniard, who had not won PGA Tour tournament since the U.S. Open last summer, was pushed to the limit to end his drought, surviving a late flurry from American duo Brandon Wu and Tony Finau to win by one stroke.

The World No. 2 came into Vidanta Vallarta as the favorite, and he lived up to the hype with a commanding performance over the first three rounds, starting with a seven-under 64 to take a two-shot lead into the final day.

During his post-tournament press conference, Rahm noted, “Thursday and Friday I played amazing and I was in incredible control of my game; it looked like nothing could go wrong.”

However, dazzling Sunday performances by Wu and Finau — who were seven strokes behind Rahm going into the final round — left Rahm with a nervous back-nine.

After a bogey on the 10th, Rahm needed to par the par-5 last hole after three pars on either side of a birdie on the 14th. Despite hitting his tee shot into the rough, Rahm rebounded to par and won his sixth PGA Tour championship with a two-under 69.

“It was a pretty trying weekend from beginning to end,” Rahm remarked.

“I didn’t expect a par-5 with a needed fade off the tee would cause me so much anxiety, but I got it done in the end.”