by Craig Morgan
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jon Rahm has simple aspirations.
"My goal is to turn pro, win 19 majors and be considered the best golfer in history," the affable Sun Devils senior said.
If you're going to dream, Sun Devils coach Tim Mickelson figures you might as well dream big.
"The sky is the limit with him," Mickelson said. "He's got the length and the hands and the putting and the wedge game to compete with anybody and quite frankly, he's so strong mentally that he's got most people in the world beat in every category. It's just a matter of when does he put it all together?"
Rahm took Sun Devil Nation by storm two seasons ago when he won the U.S. Amateur title in Japan, breaking Jack Nicklaus' four-round record by six strokes. Since then, he has run his tally of NCAA tournament wins to eight, tied for fifth at the PGA's 2015 Waste Management Open, won the NCAA San Diego Regional and captured the Ben Hogan Award as the nation's top collegiate golfer.
"When I got top 5 at the Phoenix (Waste Management) Open, I said, 'wow, I'm a lot better at golf than I thought I was," Rahm said. "I had the chance to win a PGA Tour event not playing my best golf. That was something that was important to know."
It was a big leap for the kid who showed up at Sky Harbor International Airport his freshman season without a working knowledge of the English language or a clue about where he was supposed to go.
"I come from a town (Barrika, Spain) that just this year got to 1,400 people," Rahm said. "There's more animals than people so we had no idea how to handle all this when I got here. Tim has helped me mature so much. It was really growing from a boy to man."
Rahm remembers a time earlier in his career when his temper got the better of him on the course and he kicked his bag, breaking one of its legs.
Mickelson made him run steps in the upper deck of Sun Devil Stadium.
"It was 70 steps and 50 rows up and down and you have to do them all," Rahm said, smiling. "I thought it was going to be to easy but I forgot it was like 105 (degrees) outside.
"After like 15, half of my body was already in heaven. I was half dead. I was going to finish and that was it. I was going to die right there. Goodbye, Jon. But Tim actually let me stop after 20."
Some outsiders were surprised when Rahm returned to ASU for his senior season after all he had accomplished, but when he enrolled his freshman season, Rahm made a pact with his dad that he would get his degree before turning his attention to a pro career.
Rahm admits he has management companies and financial advisers contacting him regularly, but he never responds, instead forwarding their information to Mickelson who immediately shuts the door.
"I told him 'we're not going to worry about anything like that until the end of fall; the end of your season," Mickelson said. "Until then, let me be the bad guy and tell them to stay away."
There are more immediate goals Rahm wants to achieve, anyway. He'd like to win another Hogan award, he wants to challenge Phil Mickelson's school record (16) for tournament victories and he'd like the Sun Devils to win a national championship for the first time since 1996.
Rahm reached the conclusion that turning pro requires a lot of planning, particularly since he is not American. He'll need a home, he'll need management, he'll need a financial advisor and he'll need some time to hone his game. All of that can take place after his final season at ASU has concluded, but he is already planning for it with his mental coach through a series of visualization exercises similar to what No. 1 ranked PGA pro Jordan Spieth uses.
"What I've really been working on is believing in myself and dreaming about my goals -- knowing that I belong on the PGA Tour and knowing I can beat those guys," said Rahm, who tied for second at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, California on Monday and Tuesday with a two-round score of 16 under. "Before Jordan Spieth goes to sleep he visualizes what he wants to happen the next day and I'm kind of doing the same thing."
Rahm has also taken to sketching small pictures of those dreams on notecards. His favorite one takes place at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba -- Mexico's only PGA Tour event.
"In my picture, I'm winning of course, and it has me holding the trophy with my parents beside me on the 18th hole with the fairway and bunkers and ocean in the background.
"They tell me your body follows your mind so I'm letting my mind lead. Dream it, believe it and then achieve it."