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Welcome to Numbers to Know, where we will dive into Jon Rahm’s triumph at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Rahm survived a tough Sunday to claim his fourth PGA TOUR win and moved to world No. 1 as a result. 1. MASTER CLASS: Rahm outperformed the field by +3.866 strokes per round from tee to green at Muirfield Village on the way to his win. It was the best Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green performance of his PGA TOUR career. The only other time he averaged over three strokes gained per round in a tournament from tee to green was the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open which he also won. Rahm is also the first player this season to gain over 15 total strokes (+15.46) from tee to green in a PGA TOUR event. 2. WINNING AS A HABIT: Rahm became just the fourth player to win at least once in each of the last four seasons on the PGA TOUR. He joined Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau with this honor. Technically, since Rahm got his card through the non-member FedExCup points list in 2015-16 where he played nine times, twice as an amateur, he has not won on each of his seasons on TOUR. However, in those nine starts he had three top 10s including a T3 at the 2016 Quicken Loans National and a T2 at the 2016 RBC Canadian Open. 3. NUMERO UNO: Rahm moved to eighth in the FedExCup standings, setting himself up for a run at the Wyndham Rewards title and the FedExCup itself. He would become the first Spanish player to win either of those titles should he do so. But the win at the Memorial Tournament also jettisoned him to world No. 1 at just 25 years of age. He is the fifth youngest player to reach world No. 1 and just the second Spanish player behind Seve Ballesteros. Rahm is the 24th player in history to be world No. 1 (the official rankings began in 1986). 4. BACK-NINE BANDIT: The back nine at Muirfield Village is the tougher of the two sides. At the conclusion of the tournament the front side scoring average was 36.831 (+.831 over par) while the back played to a 37.351 (+1.351 over par). Rahm’s win was helped by his stellar play on the tough side through the first three rounds. At the 54-hole mark Rahm was 9-under on Nos. 10-18, three shots better than Carlos Ortiz and at least four shots better than the rest of the field, including Ryan Palmer (-5) who would be his main rival for the title. Rahm had 10 birdies and just a lone bogey on the stretch in the opening three rounds. On Sunday, however, he shot 41 on that side of the course, helped by a two-shot penalty on the 16th hole. As such he was the first winner to shoot 41 on the back nine in the final round of an event on TOUR in the last 37 years (official events). He still finished the tournament as one of the best players on that stretch at a 4 under total, beaten only by Palmer (-5) and Matt Wallace (-5). 5. REGULAR SEASON RACE HEATS UP: With just four weeks to go before the FedExCup Playoffs begin Rahm made a huge step forward in the Wyndham Rewards race. He is no stranger to the bonus system for those in the regular season top 10, having finished 10th last season. But Rahm is one of just three of last season’s top 10 who are currently trending to be there again this season. Webb Simpson (second), Rory McIlroy (fifth) and Rahm (eighth) are well placed particularly given that last season, eight of the final top 10 in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 were already inside the cut off with four weeks remaining in the regular season. Since 2009, only two players have been outside the top 25 of the FedExCup standings with four weeks to go and went onto finish the Regular Season inside the top 10 . Y.E. Yang did so in 2009 by moving from 28th to seventh and Simpson made a late run last year going from 26th to ninth. In the last 11 PGA TOUR seasons, McIlroy is the only player to finish first in the final regular season standings after being outside the top-three of the FedExCup standings with four weeks to go (he was 11th). Since 2009, with four weeks left, 22 players started outside the top-10 and played their way into the final top 10 of the regular season standings (most in a season is three in 2010, 2013 and 2014).

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Tiger Woods’ return to Japan also marks another return from knee surgery. Woods recently had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his left knee. RELATED: Tiger to release official memoir “Unfortunately, I’ve been down this road with my knee before,” Woods said Monday in Japan. “This is my fifth operation on it. I understand what it takes to come back from it. It’s been nice to have movement again and not having it catch and lock up.” Woods, who had arthroscopic surgery two months ago, played the made-for-television “MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins” event on Monday. He’s also competing in this week’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the first PGA TOUR event in Japan. Narashino Country Club, which is located about 30 miles northeast of central Tokyo, is hosting both events. Woods won five skins on Monday, finishing second to Jason Day in the four-man competition that also included FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Woods’ latest surgery repaired minor cartilage damage in his left knee. He planned to have the procedure after last year’s Hero World Challenge, but delayed it after winning the TOUR Championship. His knee troubled him all season, becoming more bothersome after he won the Masters in April. “I figured I would keep rolling with it,â€� Woods said. “I tried to get through it the rest of the year and it progressively got worse and got to where it was affecting even reading putts. It started affecting my back and the way I was walking and trying to play.â€� After the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Woods isn’t scheduled to compete again until his Hero World Challenge. Whether he will play in the Presidents Cup is undecided. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will be Woods’ final start before he announces his four captain’s picks. Woods made the cut in half his six starts since his Masters victory. He finished T9 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and T21 at the U.S. Open. He withdrew with a mild oblique strain after shooting a first-round 75 at THE NORTHERN TRUST, and his season ended after a T37 showing at the BMW Championship. He finished 42nd in the FedExCup. “(The surgery) made me more hopeful that I could … play this week, play Hero and play Australia,â€� Woods said. “The way I was feeling toward the middle part of the year, it was going to be a tall order to be able to do it all. “I’m excited about having this end-of-year run where I’m feeling much more fit and I don’t have the achiness that I’ve been dealing with for the last couple years.â€� Woods has won twice in Japan, at the 2004 and 2005 Dunlop Phoenix. He said he would like to return next year to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Woods watched the archery competition at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. “It would be an honor to represent my country in the Olympic Games,” Woods said. “Right now I’m ninth in the world ranking and hopefully in the next year I can have a good year and qualify and represent my country.”

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