Jon Rahm rallies to win the Masters as Spanish stars align

AUGUSTA, Georgia: Jon Rahm kept hearing how he was destined to win this Masters because so many Spanish stars were aligned in his favor.

Sunday was the birthdate of Seve Ballesteros, his idol and inspiration for playing. This year was the 40-year anniversary of the second Masters title Ballesteros won. If that wasn’t enough, caddie Adam Hayes was assigned white coveralls with No. 49 — April 9. “I was told a lot of things about why this could be the year,” Rahm said, looking smart as ever in his new green jacket. “And I just didn’t want to buy into it too much.” His golf was far more valuable than any historical coincidence. Rahm turned the longest day into his sweetest victory Sunday. The 30-hole marathon finish started with him trailing by four and ended with a walk up to the 18th green that nearly reduced him to tears, and gave him another major that affirmed him as No. 1 in the world. He closed with a 3-under 69 to pull away from mistake-prone Brooks Koepka. He won by four shots over Koepka and 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, who matched the low score of the tournament with a 65 and became the oldest runner-up in Masters history. “We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” Rahm said. “Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole. “And a lot of it because of what it means to me, and to Spanish golf,” he said. “It’s Spain’s 10th major, fourth player to win the Masters. It’s pretty incredible.” It was Mickelson who declared Rahm would be among golf’s biggest stars even before the Spaniard turned pro in 2016. Rahm now has a green jacket to go along with his US Open title he won in