The easiest way for Jon Rahm, frustrated by how slow the Official World Golf Ranking seems to reflect his recent play, to assure he jumps to No. 1 would be to win every tournament he starts. And if that sounds preposterous, well so does the fact that the 28-year-old Spaniard has recorded eight top-10 finishes in nine worldwide starts since last August, including three wins in his last five tournaments, and still only sits at just No. 5 in the ranking.
Baring a highly unlikely collapse, Rahm looks to make it nine top-10s in 10 starts come Sunday at The American Express, where he holds a share of the lead with rookie Davis Thompson at 23-under 193 entering the final round in the California desert. The next closet players are J.T. Poston and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, both four off the pace.
Given that Rahm is tied with a 23-year-old playing in just his seventh event as a PGA Tour member, his prospects for victory seem reasonable high. In his favor is the fact the second of his eight career PGA Tour titles came at this event in 2018 (shooting a 22-under 266). Yet surprisingly while this is the eighth time he’s been tied for 54-hole lead or held it outright, Rahm has only converted them into wins twice.
This is Thompson’s first time atop a PGA Tour leaderboard with 18 holes to play, and if the former University of Georgia All-American pulls out the win, it would be a financially momentous accomplishment. Thompson’s career earnings on tour to date are $611,871. A victory would allow him to claim a first-place prize money payout of $1.44 million from an overall purse of $8 million.
Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut this week at the American Express. Come back shortly after the finish at PGA West’s Stadium Course on Sunday and we’ll update the list with individual names and dollar figures.
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