Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 5 Episode 16 With Jon Rahm
in Blog, Podcasts

Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 5 Episode 16 With Jon Rahm

In 2016, when Jon Rahm was a fourth-year senior at Arizona State University and winning the Pac-12 Championship at the Country Club in Salt Lake City, he was also the #1 ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

A position he held for total of 60 weeks, an all-time record.

DUBLIN, OHIO – JULY 19: Jon Rahm of Spain celebrates with the trophy after winning during the final round of The Memorial Tournament on July 19, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

He also won the Ben Hogan Award twice, in 2015 and 2016, symbolic of the best collegiate golfer in the land, an NCAA Regional Championship, and the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

This immense talent, coupled with the fact he attended all four years of college in Phoenix, Arizona, winning 11 college golf tournaments, second all-time only to Phil Mickelson, fell in love and met his wife, elected to stay and call the area his American home, probably had a lot to do with his incredible success in college and amateur golf.

Those statistics and his past history of achievement, accompanied with his winning the 2020 Memorial Golf Tournament this past Sunday and earning the #1 ranking in Professional Golf, should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention.

DUBLIN, OHIO – JULY 19: Jon Rahm of Spain celebrates with the winner’s trophy, Jack Nicklaus, Barbara Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II after winning in the final round of The Memorial Tournament on July 19, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

With his win at Muirfield Village on the golf course Jack Nicklaus built in Dublin Ohio, and speeded up to approach Open Championship standards, Rahm becomes only the second Spaniard to reach #1 in the world, behind his hero Seve Ballesteros, the 10th European, and, at 25 years of age, becomes the 5th youngest player of all-time to be awarded this ranking behind, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas.

And, with this victory, becomes only the fourth player in history to have a win in each of the last four seasons on the PGA Tour, joining Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau.

Given his drive, fortitude, talent, and the burning desire to be the best in the world, his stay atop the world rankings might just be for awhile.

Please listen in as I join the Champions press conference at the conclusion of Jon Rahm’s historic win this past Sunday.

Please Listen Here.

With over a half-century of engagement in the sport of Golf, Jeff Waters has become one of the most accomplished, experienced, and qualified Golf Professionals in the history of the PGA of America. He is a fully certified and trained Master Professional joining an exceedingly small and elite group of Professionals in the World to have achieved this prestigious title. Jeff holds University Degrees in Political Science, Teaching Minors in Economics and Finance, attended graduate school in Commercial Recreation, taught undergraduate classes at the University of Utah, and earned a master’s in business administration. With more than fifty years of experience and success in the business of Golf, Jeff spent ten years playing and competing in the game at all levels ten years laboring as an Assistant Golf Professional, acquiring the job-related skills, responsibilities, and training required for a career in golf, ten years fulfillment as a PGA Head Professional overseeing all aspects of the total golf course operation, three years’ service as Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, administering and managing multiple golf course programs and activities, thirty-three years as a Golf Coach and Instructor at The Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, The University of Utah’s College of Health and the Granite Peaks Community College, teaching and tutoring the game. Additionally, Jeff has spent the last twenty-seven years as the Owner, President, and CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises (RMG), a Utah-registered and licensed business offering golf-related services throughout the Western United States utilizing golf as the marketing tool. Finally, Jeff has performed on the national media stage for the past thirty-eight years as an Announcer, Author, Producer, and Talk Radio Host, communicating and sharing the joy, art, and skill that is the Game, Sport, and Challenge of Golf. Jeff, a well-known golf journalist, has been active in print media from an early age. His articles, commentary, and features regularly appear nationwide. He has authored two golf instruction books: “The Ten Commandments of Golf, Proven Principles That Make Your Golf Game Better,” and “The Short Game, the Transition from the Golf Course to the Putting Green.” Both are available as e-book downloads and on Amazon. Jeff penned his first short story while still in his teens and has since published 100’s of commentaries, essays, and instruction pieces in magazines, blogs, internet forums, and other platforms, including Golf Today, Utah Golf Magazine, Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Fairways Magazine, Jackson Hole Golf News, Talking Golf with the Golf Guy, Voices in the Community.com, and Jeffgolfguy.com. He is the author of multiple books, stories, articles, posts, and evaluations of other writers’ publications. Jeff began his public communications career in High School and has had a constant presence in sports commentary throughout the years, providing play-by-play and color analysis at many diverse levels, including announcing football, baseball, and basketball games, along with local and national golf tournaments, while performing on other media platforms as well. Jeff was an early pioneer in Sports Radio, hosting a weekly talk show, “Talking Golf with the Golf Guy,” broadcasted and aired on various radio stations throughout the regional market, syndicated nationally on The Rocky Mountain Golf Network, and offered on most of the recognized podcast directories and streaming services. Over his extensive announcing career, Jeff has provided the vocal narration for hundreds of voice-overs, commercials, radio programming, sports interviews, tournament updates, blogs, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos, including the original voice work on the best-selling X-Box Links golf game. Jeff also contributed voice and commentary on the Centennial production, “One Hundred Years of the Utah State Amateur,” which is available on iTunes and Apple Music. As a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff has attended and reported on-site more than a hundred golf tournaments, including an assortment of Major Golf Championships, including The United States Open Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Ryder Cup, along with other competitions on the PGA Tours annual tournament schedule. Jeff has produced, directed, and distributed numerous film and video projects as stand-alone presentations while incorporating them within his blog, website, syndicated podcasts, and national radio programming. All are available for review on YouTube. Known as “The Voice of Golf” and “The Golf Guy” throughout the Western United States, Jeff is regularly sought for advice and counsel and often speaks to groups on golf-related subjects. You may contact Jeff by email at jeffgolfguy@att.net and on his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com.