Jon Rahm achieves impressive career earnings landmark in the WM Phoenix Open despite not winning

Jon Rahm didn't finish atop the WM Phoenix Open leaderboard as he continues his pursuit of the OWGR leaderboard's top ranking, which had been held by Rory McIlroy. He finished third at -14 for the tournament, five shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler (the world No. 2 before the tournament).

Scheffler's performance got him back atop the leaderboard, with McIlroy falling to second and Rahm coming in at third.

Rahm may not have won the tournament, but what he did do will probably suffice in place of a victory. He became a PGA Tour player that only 25 other players can also say they are: a $40 million-winning golfer.

Rahm entered the tournament just shy of the mark at $39,908,792 career earnings. His solo third-place finish earned him more than enough to surpass the $40 million mark.

He achieved this feat in just 136 starts, which is a blazing fast opening to his career. Tiger Woods needed 146 starts to break the $40 million barrier. Rory McIlroy needed 144.

Jon Rahm may not have the same pedigree as those two do, but it's clear he belongs in the conversation. It does help that there's more money flowing in the PGA Tour now than when Woods and McIlroy were starting out, but it's a very impressive feat nonetheless.

Here are a few other golfers who are close to this feat:

Brooks Koepka, $37,987,257
Kevin Na, $37, 819,638
Luke Donald, $37,206,401
Patrick Reed, $37,065,581
Paul Casey, $36,620,072
Rory Sabbatini, $35,987,416
Marc Leishman, $35,216,825
Keegan Bradley, $35,310,731

Unfortunately, Koepka, Na, Donald, Casey, Reed and Lieshman defected to LIV Golf. Their career earnings will certainly skyrocket past $40 million as a result, but it won't count on this list.

With Rahm now on the list, here are all the golfers who have achieved this mark on the PGA Tour:

Tiger Woods, $120,895,206
Phil Mickelson, $94,955,060
Dustin Johnson, $74,897,059
Jim Furyk, $71,507,269
Vijay Singh, $71,236,216
Rory McIlroy, $68,173,835
Adam Scott, $60,160,624
Justin Rose, $59,239,372
Matt Kuchar, $55,524,647
Jordan Spieth, $53,728,295
Sergio Garcia, $54,433,395
Justin Thomas, $52,254,009
Jason Day, $52,004,420
Ernie Els, $49,339,400
Bubba Watson, $48,049,778
Zach Johnson, $47,919,845
Davis Love III, $44,959,243
Steve Stricker, $44,936,354
Webb Simpson, $44,260,188
Rickie Fowler, $43,069,966
Stewart Cink, $42,994,598
Charles Howell III, $42,025,458
David Toms, $41,901,709
Jon Rahm, $41,288,792
Hideki Matsuyama, $41,062,162
Brandt Snedeker, $40,539,179

This is good company for Rahm to be in, to say the least (earnings via Golf Digest).

Can Jon Rahm get to the top of the OWGR leaderboard this year?

Jon Rahm has been atop the OWGR leaderboard before. He spent 43 weeks as the world's top-ranked golfer in 2020. He has since fallen, but not far.

Arguably, the drop can be more closely attributed to Scheffler and McIlroy playing better than Rahm playing poorly.

Jon Rahm earned $40 million in his career

Nevertheless, he trails those two. On the leaderboard right now, Rahm has an average of 8.3 points. McIlroy is at 8.6 and Scheffler is at an incredible 9.1, so Rahm has ways to go.

However, he is over 1.5 points above fourth-placed Cameron Smith, who's on LIV Golf, so Rahm is probably safe from dropping below three.