LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jon Rahm has a game that adapts to any venue he plays, whether it’s Spain or Dubai, Hawaii or California. That’s what makes the final round at Riviera so intimidating for the few people left who have a chance to catch him.
Rahm played bogey-free Saturday at the Genesis Invitational, pulling away from Max Homa and Keith Mitchell late in the round by keeping that score clean. A late birdie on the final hole gave him a 6-under 65 and a three-shot lead over Homa.
At stake is the chance on Sunday to return to world number one, a ranking that would be in line with his level of play over the past six months.
Rahm took nothing for granted.
“Someone is going to shoot a 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-under round. It happens in every tournament we play, so I have to be aware that someone is going to make a run and I’m going to have to shoot a 60 for sure to have a chance to win,” Rahm said. “I just have to be aware that I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Tiger Woods lost ground, though he looked good doing so. Woods carded an eagle en route to a 67, his lowest Saturday round in a competitive event since winning the Zozo Championship in Japan in the fall of 2019. Still, he was 12 shots back.
Homa, who grew up about 50 miles away, attended this tournament as a child and won it two years ago. He started with a one-shot lead and stayed even with Rahm. Along with Mitchell, that final trio combined for 12 birdies and no bogeys through 14 holes on a day when the field played at an average of 70.31.
“I blew it,” Homa said with a smile.
Homa damaged his own chances, though certainly not his confidence. Homa bogeyed from a fairway bunker on the 15th, Riviera’s toughest hole, and then missed another par putt from 10 feet after finding a bunker on the par-3 16th. Homa shot a 69.
That was enough to give Rahm an advantage, though he doesn’t need it much.
Homa has six PGA Tour wins, three of them in the past nine months, and has come from behind in all but one of them.
“I guess it gives me confidence. It’s a little bit of a different test with Jon. He played flawless golf today,” Homa said. “But I feel like I still haven’t been up to par this week except for the first day, and even then I felt like I could have played a little bit better. I’m feeling encouraged. I’m excited to get going tomorrow. I’m going to have to play a really good round of golf.”
Mitchell made his only bogey on the final hole and finished with a 69 that left him four shots behind. The only other player within five shots was Patrick Cantlay (68).
Mitchell’s only two mistakes were a poor drive into the bunker on the par-5 17th that prevented him from reaching the green, and the drive on the 18th that led to a par putt that he missed.
“Playing 16 good holes without making any mistakes is all we’re looking for in the final group on Saturday,” Mitchell said. “Jon played unbelievable, so I’ll have to do something really special tomorrow to catch him.”
Rahm has been the best player in golf over the past six months. Since the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, he has finished in the top 10 in nine consecutive tournaments, winning four of them.
The only thing left for him is to return to number one in the world, and he can do that with a win on Sunday.
For Woods, it was a victory to return to the PGA Tour for four consecutive rounds, something he had not done since the Masters. On the other hand, he only played three times last year due to his right leg being severely damaged in a car accident in February 2021.
On Saturday morning, when the second round was completed, he made the cut at that number, 11 strokes off the lead and starting on the back nine in one of the last groups. That didn’t stop thousands of fans from lining the fairway for the next five hours.
Woods made some birdies on the back nine and then hit a 5-iron off the front of the green on the par-5 first hole, the ball rolling across the firm turf and a few inches beside the cup before settling 3 feet away for an eagle.
His only bogey came on the seventh.
“I wanted to get in touch with the leaders today, hoping I could play a little bit lower than I did, just so I could catch them tomorrow with a low round,” Woods said. “I might be a little bit far away.”
That leader is Rahm, and he is daunting regardless of the margin.
The Spaniard was at 15-under 198, one more shot to work with on Sunday. Also within reach is the PGA Tour’s oldest 72-hole scoring record: 20-under 264 by Lanny Wadkins in 1985. All that matters to Rahm is another win that would give him the ranking his game represents right now.
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