Harrington tips Rahm for greatness

Padraig Harrington believes rising star Jon Rahm will eventually become a dominant figure in the world of golf.

Rahm ended 2016 at 137 in the world rankings but a string of impressive results since the start of the year have seen him climb to number 14 in the official standings.

The 22-year-old won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open in January – beating joint-runners-up Charles Howell III and Pan Cheng-tsung by three strokes.

Spain’s number two then recorded a top-20 result at the Waste Management Phoenix Open before ending up tied-fifth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The Barrika-born star carried on the momentum at the WGC-Mexico Championship, finishing joint-third, before narrowly losing to world number one Dustin Johnson in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play final.

Many believe Rahm has an outside chance of winning his first major at the Masters next month and Harrington, who is a three-time major winner, believes his fellow European has a big future.

“This lad Jon Rahm… we’re looking at a future world number one. We are at that level,” he was quoted as saying by independent.ie.

“We are looking at a European number one. This guy is going to play 10 Ryder Cups, he is going to be our top player in Ryder Cups.

“This is a big star for the future.”

Tagged Jon Rahm, Padraig Harrington