Time for in-form Jon Rahm to make Major breakthrough

WORLD No.2 and Rolex Testimonee Jon Rahm seems to be in the best position to continue the 2020 trend of producing first-time winners of the Majors for this year.

With Collin Morikawa claiming this year's US PGA Championship and fellow Rolex Testimonee Bryson DeChambeau securing the US Open titles the Spaniard looks headed for a Major breakthrough by winning the US Masters from Nov 12 to 15 at the famed Augusta course in Atlanta.

Rahm, who had leaned towards extreme sports such as free rock climbing, parasailing and free skiing as a youngster, switched to golf after suffering a few accidents in the high-risk sports.

He got hooked to the slower game after watching the 1997 Ryder Cup staged in Spain when he saw the legendary countryman Seve Ballesteros lead Europe to victory over the United States.

Rahm, who turned professional in 2016, probably has the most consistent record for Majors over the last three years by finishing fourth in the US Masters and tied-fourth in the US PGA Championship in 2018 and tied-third in the 2019 US Open and tied-11th in the 2019 British Open.

And this year after winning the Memorial Tournament in July he achieved world No.1 ranking status, sharing an extra-special honour with only one other Spaniard, his boyhood idol Ballesteros. His reign at the top lasted just two weeks - overtaken by another Rolex Testimonee Justin Thomas - but he continued to impress.

At the Zozo Championship recently, Rahm had a chance to reclaim the top spot in the world rankings and replace current No.1 Dustin Johnson by finishing first or second alone.

Instead, Thomas got in the way, sharing the runner-up spot with him, behind winner Patrick Cantlay, and denying him the honour.

Rahm told CNN recently: "Becoming a world No.1 is a consequence of playing really good golf for a very long time, right? Winning a Major is performing really well for a week. Now, the odds of people just coming in and just having a better week than you are very high. The odds of, not an annual player, but somebody to perform better than you for four years, can be a little harder."

So the enormity of the challenge remains. And if Rahm fails to hit the big jackpot at Augusta, in-form Cantlay, 28, a four-time winner on the US Tour and who finished tied-ninth in the Masters last year, could make the Major-winning breakthrough debut.

The soft-spoken, stoic former amateur phenomenon and world No. 9, is reputed to have one of the smoothest swings in the game.

And last year, he had a sniff of the Masters title by taking the lead with an eagle on the par-five 15th, but subsequent bogeys damaged his victory hopes.

Having won the recent Zozo Championship, a confident Cantlay says: "I was able to win one of the tournaments Tiger Woods won last year. So now I'm just going to try and win the other event (US Masters) that Tiger won last year."

Going into the final round at Zozo with a three-stroke deficit Cantlay fashioned out a birdie-blitz with nine birdies for a seven-under 65 to surge past overnight leader Thomas and Rahm for his third US PGA title.

One of the most consistent players on Tour, Cantlay who is ranked in the top 20 for 50 different statistical categories a year ago, suffered from putting woes. But his recent switch to a heavier and half-inch longer Scotty Cameron Newport GSS saw him adjusting his hold and relishing play on the greens.

Johnson makes his first appearance since finishing tied-sixth in the US Open in September, and the big question is whether he can rediscover his form after having enjoyed four consecutive top-two finishes in three FedEx Cup play-off events and a Major.

Johnson won the Northern Trust and the season-ending Tour Championship and was runner-up in the US PGA Championship and BMW Championship.

And he hasn't finished outside the top 10 in his last four Masters, with a best of tied-second behind Tiger Woods last year.

Former Masters champion and Rolex Testimonee Adam Scott, world No.15, and strong contender Tony Finau, two spots behind the Australian, will arrive at Augusta National. And it remains to be seen if they can cope with the pressure of four days of hard, grinding work against a very strong field.

One golfer who can surprise despite a poor year by his standards - the four-time Major winner has had only two top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments since June - is Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.

At Sherwood in Zozo he made 29 birdies for the week, shooting 67 and 66 on the weekend. But he managed only a tied-17th finish - eight shots back - because he also had three double-bogeys and eight bogeys for an erratic week.

If there is one golfer who deserves a Major win, it is the in-form Xander Schauffele, runner-up to Woods last year finishing one shot behind, who also came close at the 2018 British Open.

The 27-year-old world No.7, born in San Diego to a German/French naturalised immigrant father and a Taiwanese naturalised immigrant mother, relies heavily on basic ball flight laws and golf club mechanics for his reliable swing. He is due for a big one soon.

Asian hopes rest mainly on Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, a Rolex Testimonee and the continent's leading player in the world rankings at 20, and South Koreans Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An.

Going by recent form, the trio are capable of big things and it will be interesting to see if they can better the best-ever Asian third-place finish of South Korean KJ Choi in 2004.

There is a good mix of Rolex Testimonees in the 2020 Masters field, and among them is a burgeoning group of young, aspirational golfers who confidently go about their business with integrity, maturity and respect as well as displaying skill, precision and ambition.

They are the "Rolex New Guard" a new generation of golfers who, like The Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player before them, are asserting their authority on the sport and in doing so inspire future generations of athletes to follow them.

Born in the 1980s and 1990s, these prodigious golfers include: American Cameron Champ who turned professional in 2017 and has already recorded a PGA TOUR win; Daniel Berger, who joined the winner's circle in 2016; Jason Day; 2015 US Amateur Champion DeChambeau; Thomas Detry who turned professional in 2016; Matthew Fitzpatrick, already a four-time European Tour winner; 2015 PLAYERS Championship winner Rickie Fowler; four-time Major winner and Rolex Testimonee Brooks Koepka; China's Li Haotong, Joaquin Niemann and Thomas Pieters.

Sentimentalists would like to see two veterans, five-time Major winner and Rolex Testimonee Phil Mickelson and defending champion Woods, raise their games at the Masters after a sweet-sour 2020.

They have been there, done that. So that strong positive could act in their favour, although the pair will miss the roar and encouragement from the fans as spectators are not allowed this time.