SALT LAKE CITY — Growing up in Spain, Jon Rahm was used to playing golf in less-than-ideal conditions with wind and rain and cold. So when golfers at the Pac-12 golf championships were greeted with the worst weather conditions of the weekend Sunday at the Salt Lake Country Club, Rahm wasn’t bothered in the least.
The No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, who plays for Arizona State, made up a six-stroke deficit to capture individual honors by four shots over Arizona’s Jordan Gumberg, while third-round leader K.K. Limbhasut of Cal crumbled and finished five shots behind in a tie for third.
The stiff, cold canyon winds that blew incessantly all day, forcing several golfers to wear knit caps on their heads, hardly fazed Rahm, who shot a final round 3-under-par 68, on a day when the average score was 75.56, a full two strokes higher than the previous day.
While Rahm was winning his first Pac-12 individual title in four tries, Stanford secured its third-straight Pac-12 team title, extending its 12-stroke advantage to win by 29 shots over Cal with an 18-under-par 1,402 total.
The Cardinal lapped the field with a consistent effort that saw three of their golfers finish in the top six and five in the top 15. David Boote tied for third at 277, Franklin Huang was fifth at 279, while defending Pac-12 champion Maverick McNealy came in sixth at 281
“The key today was patience,” said Rahm. “Where I grew up in Spain it was cold and rainy. So when I came here I was like, ‘this is perfect for me.’ I can tolerate the cold really well. I usually welcome it when it’s windy and rainy because I know that separates the best.”
Limbhasut, who had led the first three rounds with a trio of 66s and only one bogey, couldn’t handle the wind and the pressure and shot an 8-over-par 79.
“The wind was blowing hard today,” said Limbhasut. “I was pretty nervous coming in to today and I bogeyed the first two holes.”
Rahm started on fire, making birdies at 3, 4, 7 and 8 to go to 4-under on the day. However, he made bogey at 9 and doubled No. 10 to fall four behind after Limbhasut birdied No. 8. But after that, Limbhasut’s game went south with the wind as he bogeyed 9, 10, 14 and 15.
At that point, he trailed by two and still had a chance to win or tie with three holes left. However, he hooked his drive at the 395-yard par-4 16th hole and it ended up right in thick rough between two out-of-bounds stakes. It was so close that rules officials had to get a string to put between the stakes some 30 yards apart and determine the ball was about an inch out of bounds.
From there, Limbhasut ended up with a triple bogey, ending his hopes for the Pac-12 individual title.
Stanford took control of the team race in the second round and never let go en route to a convincing victory.
“To come out on top is a special deal for us,” said coach Conrad Ray. “We work hard all year for moments like this and hopefully we’ll keep the momentum going into the postseason.”
The host University of Utah squad was hoping to avoid the cellar for the first time since joining the Pac-12, starting the day in 11th place, just three strokes out of ninth. However, the Utes had their worst round of the weekend, a 36-over-par 391 and finished at 76-over 1,496.
Senior Steven Croft led the Utes with a 74 Sunday, but didn’t get much help from his teammates. Senior Brandon Kida shot a final-round 79 and ended up as the low Ute finisher, in a tie for 32nd place at 293.
“We’re all a little disappointed, playing on our home golf course,” said coach Randall McCracken, who is stepping down after 12 years as coach. “Even though the conditions are tough, you want to play a little better than that.”
As for Rahm, he may follow the footsteps of Seve Ballesteros and Sergio Garcia and play the PGA Tour someday. He said he’ll turn pro the day after the U.S. Open, in which he’ll play as an amateur in June.