Swing Sequence: Jon Rahm

By Matthew Rudy Photos by Dom Furore

February 08, 2017

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Only a few players come to the PGA Tour with the "can't miss" tag. It stems from a top amateur pedigree and the power and polish to compete with the high-horsepower modern stars.Jon Rahm brings it all.A two-time Ben Hogan Award winner as the best player in college golf, the former Arizona State Sun Devil had an impressive 2016 professional debut, recording two top-threes in his first four starts on the PGA Tour. In six events, he won more than $1 million and earned full-time status for 2017.Rahm does a lot of his damage with his longest club. "Driving is the best part of my game now," he says, and his long-ball statistics back it up. His money shot is the same one favored by another notable bomber with a similarly bowed left-wrist swing—U.S. Open champion and 2016 PGA Tour Player of the Year Dustin Johnson. "A high fade is my go-to shot," Rahm says of his 305-yard rockets. "I can hit it hard with low spin, and I still get good launch and consistency. I don't quite get it out there as far as D.J., but I hit it far enough." Plenty far from what these swing images imply. —Matthew Rudy

PRO-FILE: JON RAHM
AGE: 22 / 6-2 / 220 pounds / Barrika, Spain
DRIVER: TaylorMade M2 10.5 degrees
BALL: TaylorMade TP5x

HIGH-BALL HITTER
Everything in Rahm's setup—from ball position to stance width—is designed to produce maximum height and carry distance, says Golf Digest Best Young Teacher Shaun Webb of the David Toms Golf Academy in Shreveport, La. "He's set up to gather as much club speed as possible to smash it."

STRETCH IT OUT
Where do tour players look most different from weekend warriors? Halfway back is a key spot. "Look how extended Jon's arms are. Most amateurs do the opposite and have the club close to the body," Webb says. "And his wrists are beginning to close the clubface. Slicers have the face open and pointing behind them."

UNWIND, DON'T SLIDE
Rahm says his miss comes when his hips slide too much laterally toward the target. "Here, he's unwinding but not sliding," Webb says. "He has even more pressure on his lead side, and now he can rotate his body as hard as he wants. This is a big reason tour players hit it so high, hard and straight with the driver."

TURN AND BURN
One hallmark of great ball-strikers: They keep their body rotating through impact. Players who make poor contact tend to stall their body turn and make mostly an arm swing. "My focus is getting my shoulders moving and keeping the club in front of me," Rahm says. "When I do that, everything is usually fine."

ABOUT FACE
To check if you're fully unwinding through the ball, see if your chest and belt buckle are, at least, facing the target when you finish. The speed Rahm unleashes pulls his arms into full extension. He has turned his shoulders beyond the target. They've gone all the way around and are facing left of it.

Rahm does a lot of his damage with his longest club. "Driving is the best part of my game now," he says, and his long-ball statistics back it up.

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Swing Sequence: Jon Rahm

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