Rahm rallies to win Masters by 4 shots over Koepka, Mickelson for 2nd major title

Jon Rahm turned the longest day into the sweetest victory, starting Sunday with a four-shot deficit in the morning chill and finishing in the blazing sun as the Spaniard became the fourth Masters champion.

Rahm closed with a 3-under 69 to pull back from error-prone Brooks Koepka. He won by four shots over Koepka and 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, who matched the tournament’s lowest score of 65. He is the oldest runner-up in Masters history.

Mickelson declared that Rahm would be the biggest star in golf even before the Spaniard turned professional in 2016. Rahm now has the green jacket to pursue the US Open title he won in 2021 at Torrey Pines.

Rahm was two shots behind Koepka over the final 12 holes of the rain-delayed third round and started the final round two shots behind. He held off Koepka’s collapse and then advanced until Mickelson’s amazing closing round – the best final round at Augusta National for the three-time Masters champion – was not going to be enough.

There is nothing more satisfying than a climb up to the 18th green to claim the green jacket on a day when the Spanish stars are aligned. Sunday was the birthday of his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros, and it was the 40th anniversary of Ballesteros winning his second Masters title.

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Good weather allowed the final round to be played at the Masters Sunday and Spain’s Jon Rahm claimed his first green jacket, shooting a final round 69 and finishing the tournament at 12-under.

Rahm hugged his wife and two children, and when he walked into the score room, there was two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal in the green jacket for the strongest hug and a few words that included Ballesteros.

“They said they hope this is the first of many more,” Rahm said at the Butler Cabin. “We both talked about Seve, and if he had given us 10 more seconds, we would have both cried.”

Sergio Garcia was a low amateur in 1999 when Olazabal won his second green jacket, then Garcia won in 2017, when Rahm made his Masters debut.

Don’t forget to just register to play this week. Caddies are assigned numbers on white coveralls in numerical order when players check in. Caddy Rahm, Adam Hayes, has No. 49 – 4/9, Ballesteros’ birthday.

Rahm won for the fourth time this year – as Scottie Scheffler did a year ago when he won the Masters – and took the world No. 1 ranking from Scheffler.

This Masters has a little bit of everything – hot and humid at the beginning, cold front with wind that toppled three trees there, put the surface full of rain there and finished the Sunday marathon as Rahm and Koepka went 30 holes.

Koepka helped his way with one, losing the lead for the first time since Thursday afternoon when he chipped 20 feet over the hole from the back of the par-3 sixth and made double bogey. There will be more to come.

“It’s just some days you have it, some days you don’t, and today wasn’t one of them,” Koepka said. “But I feel good, and I hope there are three more [majors].”

Koepka went 22 consecutive holes on Sunday without a birdie – from the par-5 eighth hole in the morning of the third round to the par-5 13th in the final round. By then, he was three shots behind and Rahm was all but sealed with the next shot.

He hit a low cut around the tree from the right of the 14th fairway and caught the right slope on the 14th green and fed it down to 3 feet for birdie. When Koepka three-putted for bogey, it was a done deal.

Rahm hooked his tee shot into a tree on the last hole and missed the fairway. It doesn’t matter. He hit the fairway, hit the wedge to 3 feet and tapped in for the win.

The leaderboard is filled with major champions and the colors of Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Mickelson and Koepka are both part of the rivalry circuit. Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, another player who defected to LIV, closed with a 68 and was tied for fourth with Jordan Spieth (66) and Russell Henley.

Mickelson barely competes through 54 holes in the 48-man LIV Golf league. Then he played like a six-time major champion who two years ago became the oldest major champion under 50 when he won the PGA Championship.

He teed off on the par-3 sixth, birdied the seventh and then finished in style. His approach to the 17th came within inches of eagle, and he pumped the first when a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th dropped him with a 65.

It matched his lowest score at Augusta National – he shot 65 in the opening round at the 1996 Masters and was his best on Sunday.

“Unfortunately it’s not enough, but it’s really a lot of fun for me to play at this level again, and it’s encouraging for me to continue the rest of the year,” Mickelson said.

Rahm called it an extraordinary day, especially when his father arrived from Spain. He concluded his remarks at the trophy presentation on the 18th green by saying, “Happy Easter. And rest in peace, Seve.”

He then made the sign of the cross, kissed his fingers and pointed to the blue sky.