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"I wake up and look out the window and I'm like, well it's
pretty much the exact same thing," Rahm quipped on Wednesday
ahead of this week's The American Express. "I would say the
demographic might be a little bit older here but it pretty much
is the Scottsdale of California."
Next week he'll be at Torrey Pines in San Diego, where the
oceanside course reminds him of his home country of Spain. Rahm
views both as ball-strikers events, which is clearly a strength
of his game.
He earned his first PGA Tour victory at Torrey Pines in 2017 and
his second at this event in 2018, with two wins on the DP World
Tour in between. Rahm hasn't played in La Quinta since, but did
finish second and tied for seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open
the past two years before winning his first major there at the
2021 U.S. Open.
"I always play a lot on the West Coast," he said. "It's where
I'm comfortable at.
"It's important to get off to a good start and my level of
comfort is very high and I'm very happy. Plus, I'm not too far
from home, so family and friends can be around and visit as
well."
Rahm is the +600 favorite at BetMGM and for the first time in
three events he won't be defending his No. 1 spot in the world
rankings from Collin Morikawa. No. 4 Patrick Cantlay is the only
other top-10 player in the field, which includes only five
top-20 players overall.
Rahm said ahead of the year-opening Tournament of Champions that
he would give up some of his consistency from 2021 in exchange
for more victories. He had 13 top-10s in 21 worldwide starts but
the U.S. Open was his lone victory.
Then Rahm went out and shot 33-under par at Kapalua, which would
have set a PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record if not for Cameron
Smith. The Australian posted 34 under as Rahm had to settle for
another runner-up.
"I never thought ever in my career I would shoot 33-under and
not win," he said. "It was a bit of a bittersweet feeling
because you can't help to feel good about your game and how good
I played, but I still finished second by one shot, right?"
Rahm posted the score despite playing in competition for the
first time with some new clubs in his bag. He also leads the
tour in Greens in Regulation at 81.48 percent.
Combined with his comfort level playing in California, Rahm is
feeling very confident entering the event.
"It's a place I've been coming to for a very long time, played
in college (at Arizona State), played the Nicklaus Course a
couple times in college and played one of the other PGA courses
as well," he said. "So I feel comfortable.
"I live in the desert, so I always look forward to coming here
and hopefully having a good week."
--Field Level Media
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