The European Tour will be without a two-time champion and the No. 3 player on its points standings for next week’s season finale.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm withdrew from the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday, citing the need to rest and spend time with his family. Rahm won the Race to Dubai money title in 2019 and has twice won the tour’s season finale in 2017 and 2019.
“After lengthy discussions with my team, I have come to the difficult decision not to travel to Dubai next week. The demands of a long season with many ups and downs has taken a lot out of me. I feel I need to take time to recharge my batteries while spending quality time with my family,” Rahm said via a statement. “I would like to take this opportunity to wish DP World and the European Tour all the best for the season-ending event, which is always such a special tournament.”
It’s been a long year to say the least for Rahm, who is now a father after wife, Kelly, gave birth to baby Kepa before the Masters.
In 22 PGA Tour events last season, Rahm made the cut in all but one and earned 15 top-10s. The 27-year-old Spaniard won his first major at the U.S. Open in June at Torrey Pines just two weeks after being forced to withdraw from the Memorial with a six-shot lead after 54 holes due to a positive COVID-19 test. Another positive test kept Rahm from traveling to the Tokyo Olympics.
In nine European Tour starts in 2021, six were either majors or WGC events, where he finished: T-32 (WGC-Workday), T-5 (WGC-Match Play), T-5 (Masters), T-8 (PGA Championship), 1 (U.S. Open) and T-3 (British Open). He also finished seventh at the abrdn Scottish Open, T-17 at the Spanish Open and T-99 at the Andalucia Masters.