Win ‘on my mind’ at Torrey Pines, says Rahm

Jon Rahm is playing lights-out golf and believes he can play even better.The Spanish star, up to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is riding high entering this week’s Farmers Insurance Open after winning each of his past two starts.A win this week at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the site of his first PGA Tour victory in 2017, would make Rahm the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three consecutive starts on tour."It is on my mind, obviously,” Rahm said yesterday. "I’ve been reminded of it many, many times. And even more knowing where we’re coming, right, a place where I’ve played so good at. I still need to go out there and shoot a very low score to win.”Rahm kicked off the calendar year with a come-from-behind victory over Collin Morikawa at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui. After a week off, he returned to the fairways at last week’s tournament, The American Express in La Quinta, California, where he held off Davis Thompson to win his ninth PGA Tour title.Rahm’s body of work at Torrey Pines speaks for itself. His 2017 victory at the Farmers Insurance Open came in his tournament debut. After a 29th-place finish in 2018, he’s been in the top five ever since – fifth, second, seventh and third.Oh, and Rahm’s lone major victory, the 2021 US Open, also took place at Torrey.It fits his eye so well that Justin Thomas joked earlier in the day that Torrey Pines is set up for "whatever Jon Rahm’s game is.”"If you consistently can drive it in the fairway on this golf course and far enough, you’re obviously going to be able to be more aggressive than most people,” Rahm said. "I think the main thing is predominantly for pretty much almost every hole, the proper miss is to the right, so that’s why Tiger (Woods) has such success here. Sometimes if you miss the fairway by 5 yards or 100 to the right, it doesn’t matter, just miss it right.”Amid the questions about his terrific form, Rahm said he’s only focused on doing what he needs to do to prepare for another tournament. He will "step back” and appreciate it when the time is right. That doesn’t mean he’s taking his hot streak for granted."I’m aware very few people have been able to do this,” Rahm said. "I saw some list, think there’s only five or six of us to start the year with two wins – Justin Thomas being the most recent one six years ago. I’m aware this is very rare and I appreciate it because if anything, it’s a humbling feeling of how much work you need to put in to be able to do something like this because of the talent you have out there.” The Farmers Insurance Open will finish in prime time Saturdayto avoid overlapping with the NFL’s championship games on Sunday.Bale is so good at golf it’s not fair, says world No.3Former Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has made no secret of his passion for golf and his game has received a ringing endorsement from one of the world’s best ahead of his debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California next month.The 33-year-old Bale ended his glittering soccer career this month leading to speculation that the Welshman might try to become a professional golfer.Spaniard Jon Rahm got a close up view of Bale’s golf game when partnering him at the Pro-Am ahead of this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and was clearly impressed."I told Gareth you can’t be so good at professional football and golf at the same time, that doesn’t seem fair,” Rahm, the 2021 US Open champion said. "You can’t be dedicated to one thing and have this much talent for golf.”Bale’s love of golf often led to criticism while he was in Madrid, especially after once posing in front of a banner which read: ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’.World number three Rahm said there was not much advice he could offer Bale on his golf swing."He didn’t ask for anything, nor should he be asking, he’s already good enough,” the 28-year-old said."He has no business being that good when he’s a professional football player."When he can actually practise more, he’s going to get a lot better."He got two strokes in the Pro-Am, which I think is already wrong. He should be giving strokes back to the rest of the amateurs because he is a very, very good player.”Bale has constructed three iconic golf holes – the 17th at Sawgrass, the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon, and the 12th at Augusta – in the back garden of his Cardiff home.Last year the five-time Champions League winner, a two-handicap golfer, became a global ambassador for the Royal and Ancient (R&A).