Jon Rahm (-3) has bid farewell to the Masters Tournament with a round of 69 strokes this Sunday. He has improved his position on the leaderboard and, although it wasn’t enough to secure a spot in the top 10, he will add another top 20 to his career, the sixth in nine appearances. Not bad.
It was his best scorecard of the week, but beyond that, Jon’s main satisfaction today is that he has lifted a weight off his shoulders. Today he played much more consistently. He hit more fairways than any other day. He also made more birdies than any other day. He was solid.
He signed five birdies and two bogeys. He really couldn’t make many more bogeys. He didn’t put himself in difficult situations. Today he did resemble the most powerful version of Jon, the one who makes few mistakes, the one he had been eager to see for some time. It’s obvious that it’s there, that he has it, and now the question is why he couldn’t bring it out in the first three days. Perhaps due to anxiety, the desire to do well, doubts that grip when victory is still possible and clear when the result matters less… Who knows. That analysis is up to Jon and his team.
He said he was close to his game clicking to sign a great round of golf. Today he did it from tee to green. He only lacked a bit more accuracy on the greens to have squeezed even more out of the round. If yesterday’s and today’s performances had come together, Jon could easily have produced a 64. Therefore, beyond the result, which is good, the most important thing is the relief with which he leaves the Masters and which should serve him well for his upcoming events, especially the PGA Championship.
Moreover, the round of 69 strokes helps him to break a very bad streak he had at the Masters. He had seven consecutive rounds playing above 70 strokes. Specifically, the four from last year and the first three of this 2025. It may just be an anecdote, but it’s important to have already removed that barrier from his mind thinking about next year. Jon started his career at the Masters with five consecutive rounds above 70 strokes, the four from 2017 and the first from 2018. From there, in the next 23 rounds, he recorded 12 scorecards below 70, more than half. The last one, before today, was in the final round of his victory in 2023, coincidentally another round of 69 strokes.
Jon was once again quite brilliant from the tee, similar to the third round, but the big difference was with the irons. Overall, he hit the best shots to the green of the week, especially highlighting those he executed on holes 6, 9, 13, or 16. He had many other good ones, though not as brilliant as these.
Rahm leaves Augusta with a smile on his face and better feelings. The next goal is to maintain them in the next Major over the four days to give himself a real chance of winning again in the last nine holes of a major, something that hasn’t happened since the Masters of 2023.
