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April 9 (UPI) -- Jon Rahm overcame a 4-stroke deficit to start the day, fired a final-round 69 and rallied past Brooks Koepka to win the 2023 Masters for his second career major title Sunday in Augusta, Ga. "You dream of this moment, but it's hard to imagine what it would be [like]," Rahm said at the trophy presentation.
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The Spaniard won his first green jacket -- in addition to a $3.24 million first-place prize -- at Augusta National Golf Club. He also will take the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Rahm was 12-under for the tournament, four strokes better than Koepka and Phil Mickelson, who tied for second.
"We all battled," Rahm said. "It was an incredible Sunday. Too bad Brooks didn't have his best, but we still battled out there."
Koepka, who was tied for or held sole possession of the lead for each of the first three rounds, was 3-over par over his final 18 holes.
"I just kinda played average," Koepka told CBS. "I didn't get any good breaks either. ... That's how it goes sometimes. I didn't feel like I played too bad. I tried to give it a run there at the end, but it just wasn't good enough."
Mickelson shot a 7-under 65 -- his lowest final round ever at the Masters -- to tie Koepka for second. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Russell Henley tied for fourth at 7-under for the tournament.
Unlike the previous two rounds, players were not forced to battle rain Sunday, but were still confronted with Augusta's unique design and terrain challenges, in addition to elite fellow golfers.
Rahm sat four strokes behind Koepka on Sunday morning. He picked up two strokes when the field concluded the third round -- which was suspended Saturday because of rain -- to start the day.
The final round teed off at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Rahm went on to complete his comeback with four birdies and just one bogey over his final 18 holes. Koepka, who was unable to recapture his momentum, carded six bogeys and three birdies in the final round.
Rahm and Koepka made par on their first two holes of the final round. Rahm then sank a left to-right putt for birdie on No. 3 to move to within a stroke of the lead. Koepka made par on the same hole.
Rahm earned a share of the lead when Koepka carded a bogey on No. 4. Rahm took the lead outright when Koepka made another bogey on No. 6.
Rahm and Koepka made par on No. 7. Rahm then used a brilliant approach shot to set up a birdie on No. 8. Both players bogeyed No. 9. Rahm carried a two-stroke lead to the back-nine.
Koepka bogeyed again on No. 12 to drop down the leaderboard. He responded with a birdie, which Rahm matched, on No. 13. Koepka's struggles continued with a bogey on No. 14. Rahm sank another birdie on that hole to push his overall lead to four strokes.
Koepka scratched back-to-back birdies on his card on Nos. 15 and 16 to jump back into second place. Rahm closed out the tournament by making par on his final two holes.
Spieth, who teed off before Rahm and Koepka, carded six birdies over his final 11 holes to jump up the leaderboard.
Hovland, who shared first round lead with Rahm and Koepka, was 8-under to start the final round. He finished tied for seventh.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, was 4-under for the tournament. He tied for 10th.
The RBC Heritage is the next tournament on the PGA Tour schedule. That event will be held from Thursday through April 16 in Hilton Head, S.C. LIV Golf Adelaide will be held from April 21 to 23 in Adelaide, Australia.
The PGA Championship is the next major on the schedule. That tournament will be held from May 18 to 21 in Rochester, N.Y.
