Rahm holds off rookie Thompson at AmEx

Fourth-ranked Jon Rahm endured a frustrating day on the greens, but his fourunder-par 68 was enough to hold off rookie Davis Thompson and claim a second US PGA Tour title in as many weeks at the American Express tournament.

Spain’s Rahm, who opened the year with a victory in the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, had five birdies on the Stadium Course in La Quinta, California, finishing with a 27-under-par total of 261.

Thompson, who started the day tied with Rahm for the lead, carded a three-under 69 for 262.

“Ball-striking was great, I hit a lot of great putts — it’s just golf,” Rahm said of a multitude of putts that didn’t drop. “I was burning edges all day.”

Rahm led much of the day after back-to-back birdies at the first and second — both from about two feet. He rolled in a seven-foot birdie at the ninth and picked up another stroke at 11 — but it was far from smooth sailing from there.

A bogey at 13, where he missed the green and his five-foot putt to save par lipped out, Rahm was tied with Thompson for the lead.

He got his nose in front again with a birdie at the par-five 16th, where his second shot from the fairway avoided a steep drop off to a greenside bunker and his eight-foot birdie putt agonizingly circled the cup before falling in.

Thompson, meanwhile, was in a tough lie in a fairway bunker on the way to a par at 16.

“The turning point was 16,” Rahm said. “He missed that tee shot and I put it in the fairway. That’s pretty much a half-stroke penalty right there.

“I knew if I did what I could do I was most likely going to have a one-shot lead going to the last two holes.”