Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images
Jon Rahm (-17) held off Max Homa (-15) to win the Genesis Invitational on Sunday at Riviera Country Club, returning to No. 1 in the world on the strength of his third win in five starts this year.
Why it matters: The Spaniard picked a great time to play some of the best golf of his career, capturing massive prizes in these first couple months of the PGA Tour's new "elevated" era.
By the numbers: Rahm has already earned a career-best $9.86 million this season — more than four of the past five PGA Tour money leaders earned in the entire season. It's still February.
- That's thanks largely to his success in "elevated events" with larger purses like the Genesis, where he earned $3.6 million for his victory. Last year, he would have won $2.16 million for the same event.
- He also won the Sentry Tournament of Champions (the first elevated event) and finished third at last week's Waste Management Phoenix Open (the second), earning twice as much for those finishes this year ($4.1 million) as he would have last year ($2.1 million).
Looking ahead: Rahm's wallet will thank him if he keeps this up in the coming weeks, as there are three more elevated events before the end of March:
- Arnold Palmer Invitational (Mar. 2-5): $20 million purse (last year: $12 million)
- The Players Championship (Mar. 9-12): $25 million ($20 million)
- WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (Mar. 22-26): $20 million ($12 million)