Jon Rahm relishing battle for World No 1 with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler | Golf News

Jon Rahm reclaimed No 1 spot in the world rankings with victory at the Genesis Open, but has Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy breathing down his neck heading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational; watch live on Sky Sports Golf from 12pm on Thursday

Jon Rahm hold the winner’s trophy after winning the Genesis Invitational

Jon Rahm has welcomed his back and forth contest with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings as he enters this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in pole position following victory at the Genesis Open.

The Spaniard is in blistering form having just come off his third PGA Tour win of the season to return to World No 1 for the third time in the calendar year.

Reigning Masters champion Scheffler sits behind him at No 2, followed by Rory McIlroy at No 3, both of whom could reclaim top spot with a win this weekend.

“I mean, it’s been great,” said Rahm. “There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes to it when you get to be No 1 when the other players have been playing great golf as well. Scottie had a great year last year, Rory had a great year last year, and then towards the end of the year, I kind of picked up. And even with Scottie winning at Phoenix, I was able to get to No 1 right after.

“So there’s a lot of satisfaction that comes to it. I mean, if you’re going to do it in any way, you want to get to No 1 by winning. I think one of those times that I got to it was after, I think it was JT had a bad finish, and I finished 10th in a tournament and you get back to No 1. That doesn’t feel nearly as well. But when we’ve been playing the way we’ve been playing, it’s a lot of fun.”

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Jon Rahm says he doesn’t need the World No 1 ranking to validate his performance having returned to the top spot after winning the Genesis Invitational.

Rahm was not short of praise for his two closest competitors a week out from The Players Championship at Sawgrass.

“I mean, they’re both great competitors, great, great competitors,” he said. “Rory, it’s hard to say anything about Rory that hasn’t been said already. When he’s firing on all cylinders, it’s a thing of beauty. The way he hits the ball and his ball flight off the tee, especially, is quite unique.

“Scottie, I would say he has a great ability to post a really good score. There’s a lot of times where I’ve played with him and maybe it doesn’t look the prettiest, but you end up the round and, oh, 67. It’s pretty remarkable.

“Obviously both great players, both great champions, both of them work really, really hard at their game. That’s what I would say about each one. I know we mention Rory’s driving all the time, but it really is something to admire when you see it in person.”