Rahm wins first Masters championship
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Jon Rahm shot 69 to capture his first Masters championship by 4 strokes over LIV golfers Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, becoming the fourth player from Spain to win a green jacket.
Rahm finished at 12-under 276, pulling away from Koepka, who entered the final round with a 2-stroke lead but struggled all day with his accuracy and shot 75.
Mickelson turned back the clock again, matching his best round ever at the Masters with a 65. The 52-year-old Mickelson had eight birdies as the sun replaced two days of steady rains on Sunday.
Jordan Spieth made a late push with nine birdies in the final round and was 7 under,
It's Rahm's fourth win of the season, and his second major championship after winning the U.S. Open in 2021.
Rahm surged into the lead on the par-3 sixth hole after Koepka made bogey, and he didn't let up from there. As Koepka continued to struggle, Rahm built a 4-shot lead after birdies at No. 13 and 14 and cruised to the win.
Rahm becomes the first Spaniard since Sergio Garcia to win the Masters in 2017. Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, also from Spain, both won twice at Augusta National.
Before action began Sunday, five-time champion Tiger Woods withdrew from the Masters due to injury.
Woods was in last place among the golfers who had made the cut at 9 over when play was suspended Saturday. He was injured in a car accident in 2021 that nearly cost him his leg, and he spent part of this week in obvious pain limping around the course at Augusta National. Still, he made the cut for the 23rd straight time, tying a tournament record.
When Woods returned to the course Saturday afternoon to begin his weather-delayed third round, he struggled mightily and was 6 over through seven holes when play was suspended again. He did not return to finish the round Sunday.
It's the first time that Woods has not completed 72 holes at Augusta National as a professional. He withdrew prior to the final round of the PGA Championship last year amid similarly cold, wet conditions at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.