Jon Rahm Knows He Needs to Go Low to Win Genesis Invitational

Rahm’s third round 65 put him three shots ahead of Max Homa heading into Sunday.

California native Max Homa held a one-shot lead heading into Round 3 of the Genesis Invitational, but it was Jon Rahm—the surging Spanish machine—who came out on top after Saturday at Riviera. 

The two front runners traded blows all day, while first round co-leader Keith Mitchell kept himself in the mix with a 2-under 69. Rahm opened the round with a 4-under 31, where his accurate iron play and reliable putting shined through. On the difficult 4th, Rahm stuck a long iron to just seven feet, which lead to a rare birdie on 245-yard par-3. 

A closing birdie on the 18th hole got the Southern California crowd riled up and solidified Rahm’s bogey-free 65. 

“To play bogey free around here when the greens get a little bit firmer, it’s extremely difficult,” Rahm said. “I gotta say, I made a couple of key putts when I needed to, to keep the round going and that’s what allowed me to end up with the lead.”

On Sunday, Rahm will look to capture his 10th PGA Tour victory and his third in only five starts. So far in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season, Rahm has not placed outside of the top 10 in any of his six tournament appearances. 

Birdie on 18 for the leader.@JonRahmPGA rolls it in and takes a 3-shot lead into Sunday @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/Vf5FzgwJ8n

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2023

The world No. 3 may be playing some of the best golf of his career, but he knows that with some hungry competitors chasing him at Riviera, it will take another strong performance outlast some low Sunday scores. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, it was Rahm himself who pulled off the come-from-behind victory, shooting a final round 63 to jump ahead of Collin Morikawa.

“I’m fully aware that someone can come out tomorrow and shoot a low score. It’s kind of what happens at every PGA Tour event at this point,” Rahm said. “Somebody goes for broke and is going to shoot a low one, enough to scare me. So I’m aware that I’m going to have to shoot in the 60s tomorrow.”

Homa wasn’t as impressed with his play on Saturday, as back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes set him two strokes back of Rahm heading into the 18th. 

“I played really well today, and I just didn’t think I got a ton out of it. I thought I hit a good drive on 15 and then it went into the bunker, and then I thought I hit a good 8-iron on 16 and it drifted left into the bunker. It was frustrating.”

Homa, the 2021 Genesis Invitational champion, has also been on a world class heater recently. He won the Farmers Insurance Open just a few weeks prior, his sixth PGA Tour victory and his fourth in the state of California. 

At Riveria—Homa’s favorite golf course—the difference between birdie looks and poorly-placed misses are minuscule, but it doesn’t always feel that way.  

“I feel like when I did hit the fairway today and this whole week, I’ve had a really good look at birdie for the most part,” Homa said. “But that’s the tricky part about this place. You could [be] off by a foot, but you can be off by a mile.” 

Despite Rahm and Homa’s thrilling battle, Tiger Woods remained the main story of the day. A 4-under 67 put Woods at 3-under for the tournament, and it showed what kind of stamina the 15-time major champion can muster on his recovering ankle. 

Rahm, Homa and Mitchell will be paired together again in Sunday’s final group. The star-studded pairing tees off at 1:06 p.m. ET.