Jon Rahm inspired to be better by fierce competition at the top

Jon Rahm believes the dominant form of himself, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy is spurring the trio on to greater heights ahead of this year's Masters Tournament.

Nobody outside of those three has been top of the Official World Golf Ranking since the summer of 2021, with all three of them holding top spot at some point during 2023.

Defending champion at Augusta National Scheffler is currently in pole position, moving there after his victory at THE PLAYERS Championship, a second win in 2023 after the successful defence of his title at the WM Pheonix Open, a triumph that also secured him a brief spell at the summit.

Between those victories, Rahm had been top dog thanks to his win at the Genesis Invitational, his fifth victory in nine worldwide starts during a run on ten consecutive top-tens.

And it was McIlroy who entered the year on top, with wins at the CJ Cup and Hero Dubai Desert Classic coming with three other top-tens in his last eight starts.

That level of dominance has sparked some talk of a new 'Big Three' to rival Palmer, Player and Nicklaus, and Woods, Mickelson and Singh.

Rahm believes only time will tell if he and his fellow Major Champions can enter that bracket, but he thinks the current competition is good for his game.

"I was there on Sunday with Scottie when he won in Phoenix," he said. "You never like that feeling. So when I went to LA (for the Genesis Invitational), I definitely fed off that in that Sunday round.

"The points difference (in the World Rankings) might be a lot larger than what the actual game difference might be between the three of us. If we are talking about half a shot a round, that's just absolutely nothing. That's one good bounce and there's the difference.

"But you create your own luck, I guess. Playing in good form and feeding off each other. Scottie starting it last year and myself later in the fall, we've been able to rack up more wins than anybody else. Just being able to get it done."

Rahm has an exceptional record in his six appearances at the Masters, sandwiching four consecutive top-tens between a pair of top-30s as he looks for a second Major Championship.

And the Spaniard believes the more he plays Augusta National, the better his chances will become.

"I feel like it's very difficult to apply everything you learn from each round here at Augusta National," he said.

"I think the main thing is you get an idea of how to play each hole, getting to play the golf course in every single wind, every single possible conditions, which every year I feel like the weather has been a little bit different and we've seen different things. Just getting that knowledge helps.

"Obviously the more you play, the more comfortable you get with a little bit of the lag putting out here, I would say. It can be very deceiving to understand some of the breaks and some of the speeds on the putts, a little bit of learning and things like that.

"But at the end of the day, it's a golf course where you have to come out here and play good golf. It's plain and simple. There's no trick to it. The best player wins, and that's what you've got to do."