The Open-Open double does not happen in golf. (Basically) nobody takes the U.S. version and then swipes its elder brother across the pond as well. It has not happened in 20 years, and it's only happened once in the last 30. Opens are bloodbaths. To escape once is a magic trick. To do so twice within six weeks would have been an aggressive bit for even Houdini.
Many have tried. Many have wilted. Most recently, Jordan Spieth in 2015 after he won both the Masters and U.S. Open. He took the Open double dream (and the calendar-year slam) to the 71st hole at the Old Course at St. Andrews. It died two deaths. One on the Road Hole, one in the Valley of Sin.
Nobody has gotten close since that day, but Jon Rahm, who took the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last month, goes to Royal St. George's as the heavy favorite at 7-1 (per William Hill Sportsbook) to win the big one in England as well.
There are plenty of legitimate, data-driven, statistically relevant reasons. He's been beaten by six golfers in his last three events. He's been the best player in the world over the last year, two years, three years and four. He crossed the imaginary line from not-major winner to major winner that, while it has not changed his swing nor his stroke nor his overall game, has put another tool -- relief -- into a chamber that needed none.
"I did have a sense of relief after winning the first major," said Rahm this week. "I felt like for the better part of five years, all I heard is 'major, major, major' just because I was playing good golf, as if it was easy to win a major championship. The fact that you are expected to win one means nothing, but you're playing good golf, so a bit of relief in that sense, but it doesn't really change. There's still the next one to win, so I still come with the same level of excitement obviously and willingness to win."
Since World War II, only Ben Hogan (1953), Lee Trevino (1972), Tom Watson (1982) and Tiger Woods (2000) have won both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in the same year. Tiger did it, impossibly, at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. Hogan's were at Oakmont and Carnoustie. Trevino's at Merion and Royal Birkdale. Watson's at Pebble Beach and Royal Troon. And while Rahm's potential Torrey-St. George's sweep would not be in the same class of course as any of those four men, it also comes in a deeper era that and would be just as meaningful.
"I'm usually pretty good in golf history," added Rahm. "I know Tiger has done it. Might have been maybe Ben Hogan has done it, too, and not many more. ... It would be pretty incredible to win both Opens in one year. It would be amazing."
It's easy to forget that Rahm is 26. He looks, talks and acts more like he's 36. And so it's tough to remember how much runway is in front of him. When he talks about hearing for so long that he was one of the best (if not the best) without a major trophy, it's comical (again, because he's 26) but also a reminder that to whom much is given, much is expected. Rahm has more gifts than a baby shower, and those are always supposed to be redeemable for trophies and jackets.
Rahm knows he's not supposed to win one or two majors over the course of his career. He's supposed to win multiples of those numbers. Many more. With some players, there is a sense that major win No. 1 is the end of some lifelong road. Rahm sees it as a mile marker. This is scary because while it was not a destination, it may have added fuel to his already-full tank. Rahm knew he would win a major. Now he knows he can. That might not seem like a big difference, but it is.
"When you come to that next major, I'm a really ambitious player so I can think it would be amazing to join that list of players who have won both Opens in the same year," Rahm told Golf Channel. "To come to The Open, to come to the U.K., where golf started really, to one of the most -- if not the most -- prestigious event, it's very enticing to me."
Hogan, Trevino, Watson and Woods. That's 38 total major championships. It might not seem right now like Rahm belongs, and maybe he won't when his career is all bound up and complete, but of the best golfers in the world right now, only a handful even have a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as those four. Rahm is among them.
The Open-Open double. Impossible for 155 players in the field at Royal St. George's. Merely improbable for just one.
