Can Jon Rahm accomplish rare PGA Tour feat of three wins from three at Farmers Insurance Open?
Jon Rahm is at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open. Having won four tournaments in his last six starts, Jon Rahm is in sublime form. Looking at his last seven events, Rahm is on a par of 134-under with a scoring average of 66.9 in these tournaments.
The World No. 3 has teed up 10 times since August and only once has he finished outside top 10 (T-16 at the Tour Championship).
With two victories from two starts this year, Rahm is heading to the Farmers Insurance Open in a quest to score a hat-trick at Torrey Pines. The Spaniard has some fond memories here as he won his first Tour title (2017 Farmers Insurance Open) and first Major (2021 U.S. Open) at Torrey Pines.
Since his first Farmers, Rahm has scored 36 under par at Torrey Pines South, combining the scores of both the Farmers Insurance Open and the U.S. Open, which is 15 shots better than any other player in that span.
Despite Rahm's fascinating stats, every new tournament brings new challenges and it's not easy to win a professional golf tournament.
Winning three straights? Easier said than done
Winning two tournaments in a row doesn't happen very often, let alone three straights. On the PGA Tour, this feat has been achieved only 16 times in the last eight seasons. Nobody could do it in 2011 or 2020. Even Rahm, who has been one of the best on Tour, has achieved it for the first time.
Winning thrice has happened only twice in the last decade. Since the start of the 1997 season, the number of times a player has won two back-to-back tournaments is 62 and one has been successful to win third in a row only 18 times, just 29%. Out of these 18 times, this feat has been achieved by Tiger Woods 14 times. Woods has won two events in a row 24 times. His hat-trick conversion percentage is 58.3%.
Rahm has been in great form in California. Since 2017, Rahm has led in every stat at Golden State, be it the most wins (4), scoring average (68.74), Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+1.71), Strokes Gained: Total (+2.11), or bogey avoidance (1.97 per round).
Rahm is 246 strokes under par in California in that span, followed by Patrick Cantlay at 189 under (57 less than Rahm). His latest win in the state was The American Express.
Farmers Insurance Open details
Rahm will enter the Farmers Insurance Open as the tournament's favorite. However, there are a number of top professionals that will challenge him in the event. The likes of Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas, and Will Zalatoris will make it tough for the Spaniard to achieve a hat-trick.
Reigning champion Luke List will also try to defend his title at Torrey Pines, which was also his first PGA Tour victory.
The Farmers will begin on January 25 in a Wednesday-to-Saturday format for the second time in a row. The PGA Tour has taken the decision to avoid a Sunday final round clash with the NFC and AFC Championship games.
Tiger Woods holds the record for the most titles (7) at Torrey Pines. He has also won the event four times in a row from 2005 to 2008.