BMW Championship 2020: Jon Rahm Wins Playoff on Dramatic 66-Foot Birdie Putt

Timothy Rapp @@TRappaRTFeatured ColumnistAugust 30, 2020

Jon Rahm reacts after making a birdie on the 16th hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Jon Rahm might have had a song playing in his head Sunday after he watched Dustin Johnson force a playoff with a 43-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

Anything you can do I can do better.

Rahm, who opened the BMW Championship at the Olympia Fields North Course with a five-over 75 on Thursday and 71 on Friday, was a different player over the weekend, concluding his tournament with a 64 on Sunday to finish four under overall.

He went into the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead, but Johnson almost spoiled his day. Trailing by a single stroke on No. 18, Johnson hit a 43-foot putt for birdie to force a playoff.

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
INCREDIBLE. 😱 @DJohnsonPGA with a MUST-MAKE putt to force a playoff @BMWChamps. Never. A. Doubt. #QuickHits https://t.co/u7ag0XNBDS

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
A perfect putt at the perfect time. If he misses, he loses. RIDICULOUS, @DJohnsonPGA. 😲 #QuickHits https://t.co/RD638C3Hdf

Not to be outdone, Rahm hit a 66-foot birdie putt—yes, you read that right—to win the tournament on the first playoff hole.

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
66 FEET for the WIN! 🏆 UNBELIEVABLE putt from @JonRahmPGA to claim @BMWChamps in a playoff! #QuickHits https://t.co/DktJRjZLoj

I can do anything better than you.

✨ Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content

Nobody could fathom what they had witnessed:

Paige Spiranac @PaigeSpiranac
Rahm to DJ https://t.co/p2U2pw00cu

Izzy Gutierrez @IzGutierrez
RAHM BOMB!!!

Jason Sobel @JasonSobelTAN
Tremendous course with a brilliant setup. Top two players in the world in a playoff. A legit birdie bomb on the final hole of regulation, followed by an even bigger one in the playoff. What a week. What a finish. What a win by Jon Rahm.

Bob Ryan @GlobeBobRyan
Jon Rahm! One hole after Dustin Johnson! This is why we’re sports fans.

Even Rahm was shook.

"I could hardly believe it," he said after his legendary putt, per Nick Menta of the Golf Channel.

Oh, and it was also his longest made putt of the season. Talk about perfect timing.

With the win, Rahm—currently No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, behind Johnson—heads into next weekend's Tour Championship two strokes behind the man he beat Sunday.

But his remarkable comeback after a tough start at the BMW Championship, alongside a win at Muirfield Village earlier in the season, makes him a player to be reckoned with going forward:

Justin Ray @JustinRayGolf
Jon Rahm opened with 146 over the first 36 holes. That is the highest opening 36-hole score by a PGA Tour winner since Paul Lawrie at the 1999 Open Championship (the Van de Velde collapse).

Brandel Chamblee @chambleebrandel
To further the point that this feels like a US Open...only one player since 2009 has opened with a 75 in the first round on the PGA Tour and gone on to win, Brooks Koepka at the 2018 US Open. Rahm opened with a 75 and is currently in the lead by 2. This does not happen very often

Jason Sobel @JasonSobelTAN
Jon Rahm has now won the Memorial Tournament and the BMW Championship – by far, the two toughest setups of the summer – just in case you were wondering who’s going to win next month’s U.S. Open.

As for other results, players like Tony Finau (-1), Joaquin Niemann (-2) and Mac Hughes (+2) moved into the top 30 and into the field for next weekend's Tour Championship, while Adam Long (+12) and Kevin Streelman (+11) fell out of contention. Other notable finishers included Rory McIlroy (+3), Tiger Woods (+11) and Jason Day (+14).

But the day belonged to Rahm. Any putt Johnson made, Rahm could make better.