Title a result of late birdies, a little karma

After Jon Rahm’s U.S. Open victory was sealed his wife, Kelley, passed him their newborn, Kepa. Rahm pulled the hood of the onesie off the face of his 10week-old son.

“You have no idea what this means right now,” Rahm told Kepa, “but you will soon enough.”

Rahm shot a 4-under 67 on Sunday — tied for the low round of the tournament — to finish at 6-under. He topped Louis Oosthuizen, a runner-up in a major for the sixth time, by one shot.

This was Rahm’s first major victory, and the first U.S. Open win by any golfer from Spain.

The 26-year-old, who will ascend to No. 1 in the world for the second time in his young career Monday, rolled in tough birdie putts on the final two holes to separate himself from the field. Both putts, left-to-right sliders, were celebrated emphatically with right-handed fist pumps and screams of excitement.

There were always going to be comparisons to Tiger Woods in 2008, the last time the major was played at Torrey Pines, near San Diego. So, of course, in a hit of cosmic alignment, the guy with the most Tiger-like emotion, and even a tinge of red in his Sunday shirt, was the one who walked away with the trophy.

Rahm said the stars aligned for him.

“I’m a big believer in karma, and after what happened a couple weeks ago, I stayed really positive knowing good things were coming,” he said. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew we were coming to a special place, I knew I got breakthrough win here and it’s a very special place for my family.”

The major triumph came just two weeks after Rahm was forced to withdraw after 54 holes as the leader at the Memorial Tournament. He tested positive for COVID-19 and had to enter the PGA Tour’s protocols. That meant isolating and missing the moment when his parents met his son for the first time.

But Rahm channelled only good energy into this week as he made his return to the Tour and said it actually loosened him up. A “built-in excuse,” he said, in case he played poorly.

“This is the power of positive thinking. I was never resentful for one second for what happened. And I don’t blame anybody,” Rahm said. “I know what happened a couple of weeks ago. Some people might say it wasn’t fair, but it was what had to be done. We still have to be aware of what’s going on in this world.”

One of the first golfers who joined Rahm in celebration was Phil Mickelson. Rahm said he took a lot of inspiration from seeing Mickelson win the PGA Championship. Mickelson’s brother, Tim, was Rahm’s coach at Arizona State University.

“Jon doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Mickelson said in 2017 after Rahm won the Farmers Insurance Open, also contested at Torrey Pines. “I think there’s an intangible that some guys have where they want to … have everything fall on their shoulders, and he has that. He wants to be in that situation.”

The situation Sunday was classic U.S. Open. Turbulence took over for about an hour as the final group of the day, which included Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, made the turn.

Hughes’ tee shot on the par-3 11th landed in a tree, “I’ve played golf my entire life, I’ve never had a ball stuck in a tree,” he said after closing with a 77. Bryson DeChambeau, looking to defend his 2020 U.S. Open title, led after nine holes but shot 44 on the back nine, his worst score as a professional. Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner, hit a shank.

Rahm wanted to stay away from looking at the leaderboard, but with the crowd letting him know exactly where he stood, he decided to embrace the situation.

Oosthuizen managed to navigate the carnage and was the last man standing with a chance to tie Rahm. But he knocked his tee shot on the penultimate hole into the penalty area and his tee shot on the 72nd hole into the rough. His approach from 69 yards stayed out, and that was that.

Hughes was the first Canadian in the final group at a major since Mike Weir at the 2003 Masters and was paired with Oosthuizen. He was 3-over through six holes and never recovered.