Rahm, Scheffler Poised For Mano-Y-Mano Battle At WM Phoenix Open, Potentially For World No. 1

Steph Chambers. Getty Images.

It's almost inevitable at this point—those four letters, RAHM, seemingly magnetized to the top of leaderboards. Only a matter of time. He's won half of his last eight starts worldwide. He hasn't finished worse than T-8 during that stretch. He is, put simply, a future all-time great at the height of his powers. It's a joy to watch. Not just for us media types, either. 

"Jon's a tremendous golfer—statistically speaking over his career he seems like he's second to Tiger in just top-10 percentage," Max Homa gushed after having a front-row seat for Rahm's five-under 66 on an unusually bouncy TPC Scottsdale, which has him two back of Scottie Scheffler's lead. 

"He just has no weaknesses. His strength I guess hard to find because he just has so many of 'em. But he drives the ball so well and so far. When he's doing that I feel like golf courses are playgrounds for him. I've played quite a bit of golf with him. He never ceases to impress me. So it's fun being around him for a couple days."

Scheffler could have that privilege once the second round finishes Saturday—a nearly two-hour frost delay on Thursday made a Friday cut essentially impossible, and not a single group from the early-late wave finished their second round before play was suspended at 6:07 p.m.

Rahm did—and, after playing 23 holes with essentially no break in between, he felt precisely zero need to work on anything before he tries to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking with a victory this week. 

"It's funny, (caddie Adam Hayes) told me, 'You want to do anything after the round?' And I said, 'absolutely not.' I'm making a lot of good swings out there and I'm going to remember that. Where they end up is to most of the extent out of my control."

That's been the norm recently—a lot of really good swings. It's why he feels he's been the finest golfer on the planet for the last three months, rankings be damned. He's officially No. 3, though he's not particularly concerned with such trivial matters. 

"I feel like I've been No. 1 and I wasn't playing as good as I am right now. So it doesn't really matter. You got keep doing it. Yes, I've been playing great golf. But Rory (McIlroy) has also won three of his last eight starts, so it makes sense that he stays up there. Scottie (Scheffler) did enough last year to stay up there. He's been playing great. He hasn't won, but he's been up there."

He's up there this week. As high as one can be, in fact. Scheffler, who kicked off a torrid stretch last year by winning his first PGA Tour title at this tournament, holds a two-shot lead after a bogey-free 64. And he did so despite a downright bizarre tee shot on the iconic par-3 16th. The early-morning winds that gave Thursday's morning wave so much difficulty were back, and a nasty gust off the left hijacked Scheffler's ball mid-flight. 

"It landed four paces left of the pin and was cutting. It should have been probably six feet on left side of the hole. It ended up being like 20 feet off the green. It was weird. Tough break."   

At No. 2 in the world, he too could overtake McIlroy, who bounced back from an opening-round 73 by playing his 13 holes in five under. McIlroy's currently seven back, but he still has six holes to play in his second round, including a par 5. Should he pick off a few more birdies coming in, he'll absolutely feel like he's in with a shot heading into the weekend. 

There is, then, the possibility to have the three best players in the world, battling it out on golf's craziest stage, for the official title of world No. 1. That…that'll do.