– Josele Ballester made his professional debut at the LIV Virginia tournament, held from 6 to 8 June this year. Since his debut, and until his victory last Saturday at the PIF Saudi International, he had played ten tournaments as a professional, six in the Saudi league and another four distributed as follows: one Major (US Open), two from the DP World Tour (BMW International and Open de España), and one from the Asian Tour (Hong Kong). His first victory as a professional, therefore, came in the 11th tournament, on the eleventh attempt, and he achieved it at the exact age of 22 years, 3 months and 4 days.
– Jon Rahm also made his professional debut in June, but nine years earlier. He did so at the Quicken Loans National, played from 23 to 26 June 2016. The Barrika native achieved his first victory as a professional at the Farmers Insurance in January 2017, which was his 12th tournament as a professional, the twelfth attempt. He did it at the exact age of 22 years, 2 months and 19 days.
– Comparisons are odious, no doubt, especially if you have to compare yourself to a giant like Rahm. Let’s not take it as such an equation, therefore, and just be amazed by this parallel of beginnings: one on the eleventh attempt, the other on the twelfth; both at 22 years and a few weeks old… Both also reached that vital point in their careers, the first victory, with a Major played as professionals: the 2016 Open in Jon’s case and the 2025 US Open in Josele’s case.
– Josele and Jon are not the most precocious. Sergio García, for example, achieved his first victory as a professional at the 1999 Irish Open and it was his sixth attempt at barely 19 years and six months old. And let’s not forget that Eugenio Chacarra turned professional coinciding with his signing for LIV in 2022 and won the LIV Bangkok on his fifth attempt as a professional, at the age of 22 years and five months. José María Olazábal needed fifteen attempts in his day to win for the first time as a professional, but he did it at barely 20 years, seven months and two days old. Seve won for the first time as a professional on a major circuit on the 28th attempt, but he had turned professional a few days before turning 17 (March 1974) and when he won for the first time he was 19 years, four months and 30 days old…
– The fact is that the evolution of Josele Ballester as a professional, within and outside of LIV Golf, has been tremendous, very powerful. And meteoric. It must not be a coincidence. This is the sequence of his six results in the Saudi league in chronological order: 50th, 48th, 23rd, 7th, 2nd and 39th. As can be seen, except for his last appearance, he kept climbing steps event by event. Outside the Saudi league, he started as a professional missing the cut at the US Open and the BMW International; then he secured a 55th place at the Open de España, a 14th in Hong Kong and then won in Riyadh.
– In short: Ballester started the year 2025, still as an amateur, at Number 4,566 in the world ranking. Now he is already 264 right after winning. At this point, Jon was already moving in another dimension: that first victory at the Farmers put him straight into the world’s top 50 (46th). Be that as it may, we will have to see if Josele manages to improve his current position over the next two weeks in Australia, where he competes in the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Open.
