A Bad Year? Jon Rahm, Three Times a Winner, Doesn't Think So

The Spaniard's 2021 was going to be tough to top, but that doesn't mean 2022 was a disappointment for the world's fifth-ranked player.

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His year has been a bit understated, especially coming off one in which Jon Rahm won a major championship at the U.S. Open and spent a good bit of time as the No. 1-ranked player in the world.

But Rahm’s victory Sunday capped what was successful, one that saw him win three times worldwide. It wasn’t as good as he would have liked in the majors, as there were no top 10s. But it did see him win in Mexico, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

“Hopefully people can stop telling me it was a bad year," Rahm said after shooting 67 on Sunday to win for the third time at the DP World Tour Championship. “Three wins worldwide, three wins in three different continents ... it wasn’t a major championship but it’s still a really, really good season.

“I had a second boy this year, a lot of changes at home—it also helps. I got a lot of videos from my kids back home laughing and doing things."

Rahm had some strong words about the Official World Golf Ranking prior to the tournament—he basically said it was “laughable" that the DP World Tour Championship wasn’t earning as many points as the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour. And he lamented the lack of movement he’s seen in his own world ranking, which has hovered around fifth since July.

“I beat amazing players today,’’ he said. “I don’t know if I can add anymore to what I said. Maybe I was too far back, I don’t know. I’ve gone second, first, fourth, first—and I have not changed my world ranking. I don’t know if that explains what I meant the other day but it should.

“I feel like it gets to a point where your play should start to be rewarded. I understand why they made the changes, they made it where it would be a perfect system if every single field is 150. I’ll say one more time, we don’t get the same points for our win here, here it’s a bit of a joke.’’