Jon Rahm sets new PGA Tour earnings record with four months still to play

CNN  — 

It’s been quite the year for Jon Rahm – and he’s got the prize money to prove it.

A runner-up finish at the Mexico Open on Sunday took the Spaniard’s PGA Tour season earnings to $14,462,840, setting a new Tour record for money earned in a single season.

Denied a defense of his title by Tony Finau, Masters champion Rahm took home $839,300 at Vidanta Vallarta to eclipse the previous record set by Scottie Scheffler last season. The American also won at Augusta en route to banking $14,046,910 across 25 events last year.

Rahm has blown past Scheffler’s sum in just 12 outings, boosted by imperious form and increased prize money at the PGA Tour’s select “designated events.” Three of the world No. 1’s four wins have come at designated events: his victories at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Genesis Invitational and The Masters totaling $9 million in winner’s earnings.

And there is ample time for Rahm to stretch the record even further.

There are nine designated events – including three majors – left to play before the season wraps up with the Tour Championship in Atlanta in late August.

However, Rahm and Scheffler will miss their first elevated event of the season on Thursday, with both absent from the field for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

Golfers are permitted to skip one designated event per season but will see money deducted from their Player Impact Performance (PIP) earnings for subsequent absences. Rory McIlroy is set to lose $3 million (25%) of his PIP pay after withdrawing from the RBC Heritage last month, having already missed the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, according to Reuters.

With $49,486,883 in total earnings since joining the PGA Tour in 2016, Rahm looks set to pass the $50 million mark imminently upon his return.

Rahm finished three shots adrift of a $1.386 million payout and a fifth victory of the season as Finau took his revenge at the Mexico Open.

The American had finished joint-second, one shot shy, of Rahm at last year’s event, but improved his total by eight shots to end on 24-under and clinch his sixth PGA Tour title.

Finau began the final round with a two-shot advantage over Rahm and shot five birdies to card a five-under 66.

A bogey at the penultimate hole derailed any hope of the Spaniard retaining his title, a prospect that had been on the cards after he shot a course record 10-under 61 on Saturday, equaling his lowest ever PGA Tour round.

Given his form, Rahm looks well-placed to add to his two majors and 11 PGA Tour titles this year, but the 28-year-old is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Narrowly missing out on victory reminded Rahm of a quote from golfing great Arnold Palmer: “The path to success is always under construction.”

“It’s a great reminder that what you’ve done means absolutely nothing, you still have to go out there and do it,” Rahm told reporters.

“Obviously, I wanted to win, but it’s a reminder that everybody out here is a great player and Tony came out with a two-shot lead and played fantastic golf. I feel like, had I been able to pressure him a little more, we would have seen more birdies from Tony.

“It’s like I said, a great reminder of what I still need to do to be able to keep winning tournaments, and if you ask me, that’s almost a blessing in life, to know that the work is not really done.

“It’s never done, the search is ever ongoing.”