Rahm seeks 'normal' week at new course

WASHINGTON • World No. 1 Jon Rahm's roller-coaster year takes another wild turn today when he defends the PGA Tour's BMW Championship title on a course he had not seen before Tuesday.

The Spaniard won last year's FedEx Cup play-off event at Olympia Fields near Chicago, sinking a 66-foot putt on the first extra hole to defeat American Dustin Johnson in a play-off.

This week, the 26-year-old tries for a repeat on a course new to the tour, Caves Valley in suburban Baltimore, Maryland.

"I know nothing about it. Absolute zero," Rahm said on Tuesday.

"I really know nothing. For everybody I've asked who has played here, it's a great golf course."

His season includes his first Major victory at the US Open in June at Torrey Pines and the arrival of his first child just before the Masters in April.

But it was also in June that Rahm had a six-stroke lead after the third round as defending champion at the Memorial Tournament when he was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19.

Last month, he was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics after again testing positive for Covid-19.

Last week, he led for most of the way at the Northern Trust only for a hurricane to cause the final round to be postponed to Monday, when he settled for third as Tony Finau beat Cameron Smith in a play-off.

Fittingly, the trio are in the same flight for the first two rounds.

"I'm looking for just a normal tournament week at this point, just one week where it's uneventful, where we don't have hurricanes, Covid or anything like that," said Rahm.

"Luckily, I can say there have been a lot more positives than negatives. There were some moments that could have taken me down but lifted me up and pushed me towards greater things.

"The condition that the world is in with Covid, I am very glad that nobody in my immediate family has had any problems, when a lot of other people have suffered. It could have been a lot worse.

"It has been a great year. A lot more things to play for, and hopefully I can keep making it better."

With Caves Valley only a three-hour drive from Liberty National, Rahm made a quick exit to try and get in two practice rounds, giving little thought to missing out on a win in the first PGA Tour play-off event.

"Simply because we had to get back, pack, sleep, travel, I haven't had time to think about it," he said.

The top 70 players in season points advanced to the BMW event with only the top 30 after Sunday's final round qualifying for next week's Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

Rahm is second, behind Finau on points, but wants to be in top position for next week's title fight.

"It's the week before East Lake, so I think we're all trying to get into form right before our very last big event," he said. "It's something I have in mind, and I can't help to think that I hope I make this my first defence on the PGA Tour."

He will need to be a quick learner.

"It's going to be 'Get the lines off the tees and the touch around the greens'. That's going to be the most important thing," said Rahm.

"I don't want to take on too much at once because I'm not going to be able to get every single detail.

"I feel that getting a vibe of the place is the most important thing, at least in my case."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE