Cut prediction: RBC Canadian Open

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As sunset threatened to send us to a real Monday Finish in the California desert, Jon Rahm finally nailed a birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to claim his second PGA TOUR win at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Rahm’s rapid rise in golf continued all the way to second place in the FedExCup and the Official World Golf Rankings with his win in La Quinta.  FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. You have to love Jon Rahm’s aggression. While we often talk about the outward passion of Spanish golfers and argue the merits of playing with your heart on your sleeve, it is Rahm’s aggressive mode of play that impresses me most. On Sunday in the desert as Rahm came down to the final few holes of regulation, one thing had been strikingly obvious. He was always trying to win the golf tournament and he was doing it by taking dead aim. Sure, not a single birdie dropped in the last four holes of regulation – or the first three of the playoff – but he created opportunities by playing fearless. On the back nine Sunday, he hit six of seven fairways and eight of nine greens in regulation – and there was nothing conservative about any of it. He gave himself decent looks at birdie on all four playoff holes. This guy is not interested in being second and certainly not afraid to win. 2. Rahm is seemingly finding the perfect balance for his temperament. Spanish people are usually wonderfully passionate. But the knock on Rahm’s countryman Sergio Garcia throughout his impressive career was his passion and emotion could get the best of him at times. As Rahm hit the elite golf landscape there was a similar feeling… the talent is immense, but would the passion get in the way? Honestly, a player should do what works best for them. But over the last year there has been a noticeable harnessing of Rahm’s fire. It certainly hasn’t gone missing – it is clearly on show – but the maturity to deal with things has grown. Saturday, he battled his way through a frustrating round in windy conditions and didn’t implode. Sunday, the par-5s were becoming a bunch of wasted chances – yet he remained focused on the job at hand and was ultimately rewarded with victory. 3. We are looking at a future No.1. Yes – I know this is not really a hot take given the fact Rahm has risen up the rankings at lightning speed, but at this stage he’s still got work to do to catch Dustin Johnson so it’s no lay down misère. And with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day amongst many others expecting big seasons, it will be no cake walk. But still, it seems certainly likely. Three years ago Rahm ranked 1576th in the world. Two years ago he was 586th. A year ago he was 137th. He now sits second. Of course he has the benefit of not defending too many points yet and having a favorable divisor – this will change now. But he still shows enough drive and talent to become just the second player from Spain to the be the best in the world. 4. Andrew Landry is making a name for himself – again. There were plenty of people watching Landry push Rahm to the brink on Sunday thinking – “where do I know this guy from?â€� A Web.com Tour graduate this season – for the second time in his career – Landry is not in the consciousness of all golf fans. The first time around (2015-16) he failed to stay on the PGA TOUR but you might remember him as the upstart of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. In the middle of his rookie season on the PGA TOUR – having missed six of 11 cuts and finishing no higher than T41 – Landry took the first-round lead at the U.S. Open and was sitting second through 36 and 54 holes. A final round 78 saw him fade to T15 but it was proof his game is high caliber. Last season he won on the web.com Tour to get himself back on the big stage and while his rookie season opened with five straight missed cuts, this time around he has three top-10s from his first seven starts and sits 11th in the FedExCup. He has evolved and could easily be a first-time winner sometime soon. 5. Hadwin home in the desert. A year from now, when you are looking for who to pick as a possible winner or who to pick on your fantasy team – slate Adam Hadwin. It was refreshing to see the Canadian finish T3 this week after he failed to really kick on from his 2017 win at the Valspar Championship. The International Team member from the Presidents Cup had just two top-10 finishes after his win in March last year but this might be the start of a return to his best golf. Or it might just be he’s very much at home at La Quinta. A year ago he shot 59 on Saturday and finished runner up in the event and two years ago he was T6. He has yet to shoot an over-par score in 16 rounds at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He made a late run this time around but ultimately fell two shots shy of the playoff. An even par front nine Sunday left him pushing and while a 4-under final nine was impressive, it wasn’t enough.  FIVE INSIGHTS 1. With the win, Rahm moved from No. 20 to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings. Last season, in his first full season on TOUR, Rahm finished No. 5 in the FedExCup. Rahm also passed Jordan Spieth and moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking. 2. It marks Jon Rahm’s second PGA TOUR title in his 38th career start at the age of 23 years, 2 months, 11 days. Rahm is the second-youngest winner of the CareerBuilder Challenge. Jack Nicklaus was 23 years, 0 months, 13 days when he claimed the title in 1963. Since his first PGA TOUR start as a professional at The National in June, 2016 (T3), Rahm has recorded 15 top-five results in 38 starts worldwide, including four victories (two on European Tour). 3. Rahm’s opening-round 62 at La Quinta matched his career low on TOUR, set in the first round of The National in 2016, and his 36-hole total of 129 surpassed his previous best, which was set at the same tournament. 4. Andrew Landry went 59 consecutive holes this week before making his first bogey at his 60th hole, the par-3 fifth at the Stadium Course. Landry has six rounds on the PGA TOUR without a bogey or worse, three coming this week. 5. Martin Piller (T3) and Sam Saunders (T8) led the field with 28 birdies for the week (Rahm had 26 and an eagle). Saunders shot a final round 8-under 64 with six birdies in his last eight holes. A year after we had a 59, 62 was the low score of the week – shot by Rahm in the opening round at La Quinta Country Club.

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OPELIKA, Ala. — Chad Collins missed a chance for the 10th sub-60 round in PGA TOUR history and third of the season, parring the final two holes for an 11-under 60 on Friday in the second round of the Barbasol Championship. Collins hit his approach to the back fringe on the par-4 18th, leaving a 70-foot downhill birdie try that he hit 5 feet past. “I just got myself out of position off the tee, which you can’t do,” Collins said. “Probably one of the easiest hole locations on the green, so it was kind of unfortunate to not hit the fairway and I probably would have had a better look at birdie there. I gave it a run. I’m not too disappointed at all by 60, so I’ll take it.” After six straight birdies on Grand National’s rain-softened Lake Course, the 38-year-old player from Indiana player missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. “Hit a good shot, but I hit it a little heavy,” Collins said. “I didn’t think it was going to get back there and it must have had a lot of overspin, hit the downslope, chased back there. I wasn’t sure how close it came to going in, but had to come pretty close. And then the putt was a little tricky. We couldn’t quite figure out if it was kind of right center, right edge or left center, left edge. Just kind of lost a little bit of speed and broke off the left edge. ” Jim Furyk shot a record 58 last year in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and is one of eight players to shoot 59. Justin Thomas and Adam Hadwin shot 59s in January — Thomas in his victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii, and Hadwin in the CareerBuilder Challenge in California. Collins had five birdies in a front-nine 30, parred the 10th and ran off the six straight birdies to get to 11 under for the round. “It kind of crossed my mind probably on the par-5 16th,” Collins said about breaking 60. “Didn’t hit a very good tee shot there, but it was probably going to be a three-shot hole anyway. Then hit a good approach shot in there to 10 feet or so. When I made that, obviously with two holes to go, just needed to make one.” Collins topped the leaderboard at 15-under 127 halfway through the round. He made the 36-hole cut for only the fifth time in 23 events this year. The two-time Web.com Tour winner had missed five straight cuts and 11 of 12. “This year’s been kind of a struggle for me,” Collins said. “I haven’t been playing that well and it’s super nice to see putts fall in, good ball-striking and being in position on the weekend.” Collins had his lowest round on the PGA TOUR and tied the course record set last year by Jhonattan Vegas. “Owe it all to the putter,” Collins said. “I did strike it well, but I made a lot of putts. Made a few that I probably shouldn’t have made, had a stretch going there on my back nine of five or six in a row. Hit some clutch shots, but just made a lot of putts.” He also shot 60 in a 2013 Web.com Tour event in Utah, playing his first nine holes in 9-under 27 with an eagle and seven birdies. “Obviously, the course in Utah, in my opinion, was a little bit more gettable,” Collins said.

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