Jon Rahm wins emotional first Masters green jacket to honour Seve Ballesteros
Jon Rahm produced a nerveless Sunday performance to claim his first Masters green jacket in dominant but emotional style at Augusta National, in the perfect tribute to the late Seve Ballesteros.
Forty years after golfing icon Ballesteros claimed his second green jacket, and on what would have been his 66th birthday, Rahm became the fourth Spanish winner after Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.
The fourth and final round of a wild week at Augusta looked set to be a shootout between Rahm and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka - who at one point had feared a knee injury would his chances of ever being competitive at majors again.
Fit once more, Koepka actually led by four shots heading into Sunday, after bad weather forced play to be abandoned midway through Saturday’s third round, but by the time that belated third round had concluded, his advantage over Rahm was down to two strokes.
And as the American headed backwards in the fourth round, his Spanish foe relentlessly marched on and claimed his second major title - adding to his 2021 US Open crown - by carding a 69 to end on 12-under, a four-shot triumph over Koepka and a rejuvenated Phil Mickelson, who shot a magical Sunday 65 at the age of 52 to end in a tie for second on -8.
It wasn’t the high-stakes Sunday shootout that it had promised to be at one point but that was due to Rahm’s ruthless brilliance and the 28-year-old was a deserved and popular winner, adding a second major that his talent more than warrants.
It was a remarkable recovery by Rahm, who had opened his tournament by four-putting the opening hole on Thursday to begin with a double bogey. Yet that was all forgotten by the end of a sparkling Sunday
