ASU Golf: Sun Devil alumnus Jon Rahm boosted to No. 8 in world ranking following Irish Open win

The 2016-2017 season has been a very interesting one on the PGA Tour.

It has seen two first-time major tournament winners in Sergio Garcia, who finally won a major championship with his victory in Augusta this past April, as well as Brooks Koepka who won the US Open just a few weeks ago at Erin Hills.

For Sun Devil alum Jon Rahm, the season has been nothing short of outstanding. The Barrika, Spain native won the Farmers Insurance Open back in January for his first ever PGA tour win and on Sunday he won the Irish Open notching his first win on the European Tour. Following a dominant 6-stroke victory at the Irish Open, Rahm propelled himself inside of the top ten in the world rankings.

Rahm jumped up three spots from No. 11 and is now ranked eighth in the world. His rise in the rankings saw him pass the likes of Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka who have six PGA Tour victories between them.

At 22, Rahm is one of the up and coming names in the golf world, his impressive upsurge rivals that of Jordan Spieth just a couple years ago when he won 5 PGA Tour events effectively coming out of nowhere much as Rahm has. His steady play has led him miss the cut just twice this year and has earned him just shy of $4.5 million with plenty of events still to go.

Off the links, Rahm has been found time to enjoy his success. He was recently featured in a video on the popular YouTube channel “DudePerfect.” Rahm partook in a challenge against some of the YouTubers and showed them some of his skills. The results were nothing if not entertaining.

The Arizona State men’s golf program has always been well-represented on the PGA Tour in the form of the great Phil Mickelson and others such as Paul Casey, but the program could soon be associated with a new stud, Jon Rahm.