Jon Rahm plays a shot during the pro-am prior to the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 25, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

By Ryan Herrington
There appeared to be some karmic justice in Jon Rahm being named the winner this week of the Sir Henry Cotton Award, the prize given to the top rookie on the European Tour.

Despite a victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in February, 11 top-10s in 23 PGA Tour starts and $6.1 million earned in the 2016-’17 campaign, the 23-year-old Spaniard was ineligible for ROY in the U.S. when the award was handed out in early October (Xander Schauffele snatched it up). You see, technically Rahm’s rookie season came in 2016—even though he played just nine events that year and wasn’t a member of the PGA Tour until the last tournament of the regular season. (It’s complicated, but the long story short is Rahm, No. 5 in the World Ranking, has spent his entire first 17 months as a professional playing too well for his own good.)

Yet while what happened on the PGA Tour felt like a raw deal, was the European Tour honor the equivalent of a college basketball make-up call? Yes, Rahm played in 12 officials European Tour events in 2017, claiming one win at the Irish Open and four top-10s while earning €2.8 million to put him fourth in the Race to Dubai entering this week’s season finale. However, of the 12 events, eight were either major championships or WGC tournaments that also counted toward his PGA Tour numbers. Is playing only four regular-season events native to the European Tour enough to be deserving of the honor?