The Ranking: Big Money for Seconds, Jon Rahm's Bonus Points and Jordan Spieth Is Just Fine

To criticize Jordan Spieth for having just two wins since 2018 is missing the plot—Gary Van Sickle thinks a big one could be on the way.

Tiger Woods didn’t tee it up in competition last week but somehow, professional golf went on without him.

Here’s what happened that drew The Ranking’s attention away from Paige Spiranac’s Twitter account …

10. Hey, Tiger, Second Place Doesn’t Suck Anymore

You read that right. Jordan Spieth scored $1.44 million last year when he won the RBC Heritage. Sunday, he lost a playoff to Matthew Fitzpatrick and, because the tournament is one of the new designated/elevated/inflated tour events, he earned $2.18 million for finishing second, almost $700k more than he got for winning. Spieth is good with irons and better with irony. The Ranking thinks it was another tough break for a guy whose career earnings exceed $54 million.

9. The 5% Solution

Journeyman golf Spencer Levin won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship, his first non-mini-tour win since a 2008 Canadian Tour event. Levin hasn’t had PGA Tour status in six years and, in fact, was a Monday qualifier for Veritex. The big victory landed him a check for $180,000, or $2 million less than Spieth got for finishing second at Heritage. The Veritex purse was 5% of Heritage’s. This is life on the unelevated KFT.

8. Sorry, But She Doesn’t Move the Needle

Even though Linn Grant is the top-ranked Swedish woman player, she was replaced on the Swedish team for next month’s Lifeplus International Crown at Harding Park, an LPGA team event. What’s up with that? Grant has not had a COVID-19 vaccination and the U.S. still requires international visitors to be vaccinated so she, like male tennis star Novak Djokovic, isn’t allowed into the country. Grant will miss the Chevron Championship, too, the first LPGA major.

7. Walker, Texas Stranger

The name atop the RBC Heritage leaderboard after 36 holes was familiar. It was Jimmy Walker, 2016 PGA Championship winner. He faded from golf due to a Lyme disease complications that included West Nile virus later that year that caused his game and his health to deteriorate. He unofficially retired in mid-2022 but decided to try a comeback when nine players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf moved him up to 50th on the career money list, and he was able to cash in a one-time exemption for that. Walker lost the lead on the weekend at Harbour Town, slid to a tie for 25th, won just over $160,000 and scored build-your-brand points by doing a walk-and-talk session with CBS announcers on Saturday. It’s progress.

6. The Show Must Go On

Give Jon Rahm bonus points for showing up to play the RBC Heritage a few days after winning a draining Masters title. Rahm said he considered withdrawing but decided he needed to honor his commitment—unlike Rory McIlroy—and thought about the possible young spectators who might be at Harbour Town. “If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play good or bad, just to be there,” he said. It’s debatable how many kids attend this event in a pricey resort town but the point is, Rahm did what he said he would do. Which ranks him ahead of most members of Congress.

5. Hello, Friends

Rahm’s extra effort extended to Sunday’s final round where, after he finished, he joined the CBS broadcast team and helped describe the action. He got positive reviews for being fun, self-effacing and insightful. He revealed that LIV Golf departee Phil Mickelson was among the players who stayed around to congratulate him at the Masters and that his handicap at his home course in the Phoenix area, Silverleaf, was +9, down from a high of +13 and “was more realistic.” After Patrick Cantlay hit a surprisingly good shot, Rahm commented, “Everything we just said means nothing.” CBS analyst Trevor Immelman said, “Welcome to being an announcer, Jon.” Rahm replied jokingly, “I don’t like it at all.” Rahm’s guest spot was good fun for viewers. The Ranking gives him an A-minus for his debut, pretty good for a rookie.

If this professional golf thing doesn’t work out, @JonRahmpga might have a future as a golf analyst 👀 pic.twitter.com/17M32L41Zu

— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) April 16, 2023

4. How to Lose $3 Million Without Really Trying

The PGA Tour’s new big-big-money slate of designated/elevated events came with a catch. The top players had to agree to play 17 of the events, including majors and playoffs. A stipulation was added that players could miss one. When Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Masters and then skipped the RBC Heritage, that was the second elevated event he missed… and it’s only April. He was awarded $12 million in the Player Impact Bribe Program but the second missed event means he will forfeit one-fourth of that bonus: $3 million. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan can waive the penalty if he so chooses. But he can’t order a public flogging. (The Ranking is double-checking the PGA Tour handbook on that.)

3. Err Jordan

What’s wrong with Jordan Spieth? Uhh … nothing. He made a stellar defense of his RBC Heritage title, losing to Fitzpatrick in a playoff on the third hole. And he’s playing well, with a top-4 finish in four of his last five stroke-play events. The only thing missing is a win and yes, he’s had only two of those since 2018. But Spieth at Harbour Town resembled the Spieth of old as he vaulted from 15th to ninth both the world ranking and in the SIWGR. The PGA Championship is coming up next month at Oak Hill. Here’s your free (but non-refundable) wagering tip: Jordan for the win (and, by the way, a career Grand Slam).

2. The Green Straitjacket

A Masters win may not be in Rory McIlroy’s future, said Chubby Chandler, his former manager. Chandler told British media outlet iNews that he believes McIlroy is too obsessed with completing the career Grand Slam—he needs a Masters victory—and that it’s become a mental obstacle. He said he thinks McIlroy is distracted by his PGA Tour policy board position (“He has got carried away as a mouthpiece for the PGA Tour”); doing a CBS walk-and-talk interview during the Masters (“It was brilliant but … you never would have got Jack Nicklaus doing that”); and has too many yes-men employees (“Some of the stuff he is doing comes at a cost and that is probably another 10 tournament wins”). The Ranking doesn’t disagree.

1. If the Shoe Fitz …

Matthew Fitzpatrick won last year’s U.S. Open and added another win at last week’s RBC Heritage, making sure he won’t be classified as a one-hit wonder. Well, he was a U.S. Amateur champion, too. Just when the golf world was secure in its idea of a blooming Great Triumvirate of Masters champion Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, Fitzpatrick held off Jordan Spieth for the win. In other words, not so fast on this Big Three thing. Fitzpatrick is still a reigning Open champ and shouldn’t be dismissed just because he wears braces that make him look slightly nerdy.