Morning 9: Masters ratings boost | Rahm No. 1 | Insane par round

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Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, and as we look towards the RBC Heritage, another PGA Tour designated event.

1. Masters: Final round best TV ratings of any golf telecast in 5 years

Alex Myers for Golf Digest…”The final round averaged drawing 12.06 million viewers, which was up 19 percent from Scottie Scheffler’s win in 2022, according to CBS. That also makes it the most-viewed golf telecast on any network since the 2018 Masters…”

• “According to CBS, viewership peaked on Sunday between 7 and 7:15 p.m. ET with more than 15 million people tuning in to see Rahm put the finishing touches on his first Masters win and second major title.”

• “The network totaled 16.251 million viewers in combined average viewership during a marathon Sunday that began with the conclusion of the third round.”

2. Rahm No. 1

Patricia Duffy for Golf Channel…”Four months into 2023 and we’ve already seen the world No. 1 title pass between three guys on four different occasions.”

• “The undisputed Big 3— Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy — have been playing musical chairs since February 12, when Scheffler took the top spot from McIlroy for the first switcheroo of the year. Now, Rahm is back on top for the second time this year after his Masters win.”

3. The new Ryder Cup torchbearer?

Oliver Brown for the Telegraph…”What Ballesteros has bequeathed to Rahm, though, is a consuming passion for the Ryder Cup. Just as the great Seve derived his deepest satisfaction from crushing his US opponents, Rahm called the experience of beating Tiger Woods in singles in Paris five years ago the “best feeling of my life”. In the wake of his emphatic four-stroke victory to claim the Green Jacket, Rahm has a pivotal role to perform at the contest in Rome this autumn. Quite simply, Luke Donald, the European captain, is duty-bound to make him his on-course leader.”

• “The identity of Europe’s Ryder Cup talisman has been fraught with uncertainty since Seve’s pomp. Ballesteros was such a galvanising force that Mark James once said: “He could have played with my mum, who doesn’t even play, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if they had got half a point.” Despite a formidable European record in winning four of the past six match-ups, there is no natural substitute for the Seve effect.”

4. The short shelf life of Brooks Koepka’s “clutch” gene

Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan with the tally of times Koepka has recently held or been near the lead in majors — in addition to BK’s inability to get the gearshift out of neutral at the Masters Sunday.

• “2019 Masters: Tied for the lead heading into 12, makes double bogey, plays 3 under the rest of the way but loses to Tiger by a shot.”

• “2019 PGA Championship: Holds a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead on the field heading into the final round, reaches 13 under by the tenth hole, then falls off a cliff, making five bogeys in the last eight holes. Only Dustin Johnson’s equally rough pressure play down the stretch saves the day for Koepka, who nearly blew the biggest final round lead in major history.”

• “2019 U.S. Open: Fights to within a shot of Gary Woodland on the back nine, but plays the last seven holes in over over, with no birdies, to lose by three.”

• “2021 PGA Championship: Takes a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson on the first hole on Sunday, immediately makes double bogey, finishes with a 74, the second-worst score of anyone in the top 16, to lose by two.”

• “2021 U.S. Open: Shoots a respectable Sunday 69 to finish T-4, but was arguably never a real threat to Jon Rahm.”

5. Jordan Spieth expecting exciting week

Riley Hamel for Golfweek…”according to defending champion Jordan Spieth, Harbour Town Golf Links could produce a more diverse leaderboard.”

• “I think on a course like this, it’s going to be more unique than any of the ones that we’ve experienced in any of the elevated events so far because you have a course where it doesn’t matter about length,” he said Tuesday after the ceremonial cannon shot. “You just have to golf your ball around. It’s an advantage if you hit it far and straight, but you’ve got to take risk on more than you do other places if you want to try and keep hitting driver.

• “It could be just such a massively bunched leaderboard of such big names, it’s got the potential to be as exciting an event as we’ve seen this year.”

6. Cantlay responds to slow play critics

7. What a round!

8. WITB Time Machine: Wesley Bryan’s winning WITB at the 2017 RBC Heritage

Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (8.5 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana Blue S+ 70 TX

3-wood: Callaway GBB Epic (15 degrees

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Red 75 X 6.0

Hybrid: Callaway Apex (18 degrees)

Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 95 X

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro 2016 (4-PW)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (50-10S, 54-10S), Callaway Mack Daddy Forged (58-08)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey Metal X Milled #2

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X

Grips: Iomic

9. Photos from the RBC Heritage

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!