A broken club led to a last-minute change for Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship

He’s chased it for two decades now, the last piece of his major puzzle. What if it never happens? Is he OK with that? Are we?

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DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Jon Rahm won the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide to join Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to reach No. 1 in the world, a victory he finally wrapped up with a magical shot that would have made his idol proud. Rahm built an eight-shot lead at the turn, only to see it reduced to three shots with three holes to play Sunday on a Muirfield Village course playing its toughest in 42 years. In trouble behind the green on the par-3 16th, with Ryan Palmer facing a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe, Rahm hit a flop shot from deep grass that came out perfectly. It landed on the fringe, ran toward the hole and dropped for birdie as the fiery Spaniard let out a ferocious fist pump. Palmer took bogey on the 17th, and the coronation was on. The only issue was the score. Replay of Rahm’s chip appeared to show the ball moved ever so slightly when he placed his lob wedge behind it. PGA TOUR officials reviewed it and gave him a two-shot penalty. It didn’t affect the outcome. Rahm was surprised when it was mentioned to him after he finished and said he didn’t realize anything was wrong. “It doesn’t take anything from the shot,” he said. “It’s not going to take anything away from today.” Rahm closed with a 3-over 75 for a three-shot victory over Palmer, the highest final round by a Memorial winner since Roger Maltbie shot 76 in the inaugural year in 1976. The victory was the 10th of Rahm’s career, his fourth on the PGA TOUR and jumps him to No. 8 in the FedExCup standings. He moves past Rory McIlroy in the world ranking by winning against the strongest field of the year. It was the strongest test, too, with the rough not being cut and the greens allowed to bake out because they are being replaced. The fifth green already was stripped as the leaders were on the back nine. Only five players broke par, the fewest for a final round since the Memorial began in 1976. The average score of 75.932 was the highest for the final round since it was 75.972 in 1978. Rahm looked to be playing a different course. He played bogey-free on the front nine with birdies on the two par 5s. That put him eight shots clear on his way to No. 1. And then he made bogey on the 10th. Not a problem. He yanked his tee shot into a creek on the par-5 11th, and that was a bigger problem based on how hard he slammed the club into the ground in a pique of anger. He made double bogey. Palmer made birdie on the 12th, and then Rahm made another bogey from the bunker on the 14th. Just like that, the lead was three shots. Only a week ago at Muirfield Village for the Workday Charity Open, Justin Thomas had a three-shot lead with three holes to play and wound up losing in a playoff to Collin Morikawa. Rahm only wanted his tee shot on the 16th to stay dry, though the rough was not a great option with how fast the greens were running. The chip was similar — but from a different angle — to Tiger Woods chipping in from behind the 16th green when he won the Memorial for the fifth time in 2012. Woods, in his first competition since Feb. 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, shot 76 and tied for 40th. “Tough, tough conditions to start out my first week back, Thursday and Sunday,” Woods said. “But it was good to get the feel and the flow of competing again.” Matthew Fitzpatrick had a 68 for the low score of the final day to finish third. The consolation prize went to Palmer (74) and Mackenzie Hughes (72), who earned spots in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September as the leading two players from the top 10 who were not already eligible. Henrik Norlander could have taken the final spot with a par on the 18th, but he missed the fairway well to the right, couldn’t reach the green and made bogey. Norlander and Hughes tied at 3-under 285, but the spot went to Hughes because he had the better world ranking. That ranking now starts with Rahm, who only five years ago was at the Memorial to receive the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s best college player. On Sunday, Nicklaus was there to greet him behind the 18th green. Nicklaus revealed earlier Sunday he and wife Barbara tested positive for the coronavirus in March, and they have since tested positive for the antibodies. As for the shot behind the 16th? Nicklaus was impressed. So was Rahm. “I still can’t believe it, I’m not going to lie,” Rahm said.

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Rickie Fowler needed a special invite to get into the 103rd PGA Championship but he’s already locked up a spot in the 104th after an impressive week at the Ocean Course. Fowler won’t be sweating on a spot at Southern Hills in Oklahoma next May as rounds of 71-76-69-71 left him at 1-under and in a tie for eighth with the top 12 and ties getting a return ticket. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Mickelson makes history It was Fowler’s first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since he finished T10 at The American Express in January of 2020, over 16 months ago. Having slipped to 128th in the world rankings and 147th in the FedExCup, the result came timely as Fowler looks for an 11th hour push towards playing in his hometown US Open at San Diego’s Torrey Pines next month. He is now 101st in the world rankings and onto the playoff bubble at 125th in the FedExCup. Fowler can make the U.S. Open field either by forcing his way into the world top 60 after the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide or by getting through final qualifying in Columbus on June 7. “I’m starting to feel pretty darn good. The last few months, it’s been a lot more just go play golf and not play golf swing. Put a lot of time in prior to the last few months of working on swing and doing the stuff we kind of needed to work on and accomplish. Now it’s just go play golf,” Fowler said during the PGA Championship tilt. “I’m very happy with where we’re at. Things can still get better, but we’re back to playing golf and hitting shots and having fun.” While Fowler was celebrating the milestone, so too was Harry Higgs who surged into a tie for fourth in his first major championship with a final round 70. Higgs not only earns a trip back to the PGA Championship next year but also finds his way into the 2022 Masters. “You don’t really want to root for people to make bogeys, but I’m going to be rooting for people to make bogeys,” the affable Higgs joked when he finished up well ahead of the leaders at 2 under. “When I get focused at the task at hand I can perform at this level. Even though these golf shots are treacherous and they look brutal, the clearer that I am, the more focused that I am, I can pull these things off, and then just simply (I know) I can win these things.” Veteran Padraig Harrington was also part of the top four and while as a past champion his spot at the PGA is always secure he will now return to Augusta for the first time since 2015. Another set for the 2022 PGA Championship that may not have found a way otherwise was Kevin Streelman who pulled within a shot of the lead early in the final round before settling for a 75 and tie for eighth.

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