In the end, there was sun. The storms and the suspensions, the muck and the mud, the wind and the chill, it all gave way to a glorious Easter afternoon in Augusta, Georgia.
Basking in that fading daylight was Jon Rahm.
Rahm won the 87th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, completing 30 holes on Sunday for his second major title and his fourth PGA Tour win of the year.
The 28-year-old, who won the 2021 U.S. Open, added a green jacket to his collection, closing in 3-under 69. He became the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters, joining Seve Ballesteros (1980, ’83), Jose Maria Olazabal (1994, 99) and Sergio Garcia (2017).
“Hard to put it into words,” Rahm said. “Still really hasn’t sinked in yet. I’m looking at the scores, and I still think I have a couple more holes left to win. Can’t really say anything else. This one was for Seve. He was up there helping, and help he did.”
Rahm finished four shots clear of three-time champ Phil Mickelson, who, at 52, became the oldest player in Masters history to record a top-5.
Full-field scores from the 87th Masters Tournament
Also in second place was Brooks Koepka, the man who started an elongated Sunday with a four-shot lead. The four-time major champion played his final 30 holes in 5 over par, closing with a 75.
“Just some days you have it, some days you don’t, and today wasn’t one of those,” Koepka said. “But I feel good, and I expect to be there the other three (majors).”
Jordan Spieth, the 2015 winner, shot 66 to tie 2018 champ Patrick Reed (68) and Russell Henley (70) for fourth.
Golf is analogous to boxing – in ways both trite and appropriate – when individuals go head-to-head, and for the better part of two weekend days, this Masters felt like a heavyweight tilt with two of its heaviest hitters.
Only, no big punches landed for nearly a round and a half.
Rahm and Koepka began their Sunday wrapping up the seventh hole of the third round. Koepka missed an 11-foot par putt and Rahm made a 9-foot birdie putt. Koepka’s overnight advantage was cut in half, to two.
They both birdied the par-5 eighth, but neither man made a birdie over the second nine, both playing it in 2-over 38. The margin was still two entering the final round, in which one continued to fail in pulling away from the other.
That inability offered opportunity.
Some, like defending champion Scottie Scheffler, made cameo appearances. Others offered a more serious threat. Spieth was within two before a pulled tee shot on 18 led to bogey.
His playing competitor, Mickelson, birdied the last – one of five birdies over his final seven holes – to shoot a 65 that was more brilliant than it was surprising. Even without a seventh major title, Mickelson triumphantly walked off the 18th green just as the final twosome was entering the second nine.
Ultimately, this was Koepka vs. Rahm. Not LIV vs. PGA Tour. Not Evil vs. Good. Just two men, playing for themselves and their legacies.
For Rahm, a chance to become the first European to win the Masters and U.S. Open. For Koepka, a chance to be a claret jug away from immortality.
But after 13 birdies and an eagle in his first 44 holes, Koepka couldn’t buy one over an agonizing stretch of the next 22.
His dropped shot at the par-3 sixth cost him a share of the lead and he fell two back when Rahm birdied the par-5 eighth. Koepka never got closer. A sloppy bogey at the par-3 12th dropped him three back and, despite finally getting a red number at the par-5 13th, Rahm did the same.
The knockout blow – to revive the pugilist parallel – came one hole later, where Rahm hit a stinging cut from the pine straw to 4 feet. He made birdie while Koepka made bogey.
From there it was just a matter of not messing up and, despite a wayward tee shot on the 72nd hole, Rahm obliged.
On Thursday, just before 11 a.m., Rahm began his tournament with a double bogey. On Sunday, at 7:22 p.m., Rahm won the Masters. He did so with his family, friends and countryman Olazabal there to embrace him. He did so on what would have been Ballesteros’ 66th birthday.
“[Olazabal] said he hopes it’s the first of many more,” Rahm said in Butler Cabin. “We both mentioned something about Seve, and if he had given us 10 more seconds, I think we would have both ended up crying.”