Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm is bracing for a mouth-watering potential showdown with world No.1 Dustin Johnson in the final of the World Golf Championships-Match Play in Texas.
The 22-year-old Rahm booked a semi-final against American Bill Haas after romping to two sizeable victories at Austin Country Club on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
Rahm downed American Charles Howell III 6 and 4 in the final 16 before thrashing Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen 7 and 5 in the afternoon quarter-final to leave himself one victory away from the WGC-Match Play finale.
That decider could feature the sensationally in-form Johnson, who notched a convincing 3 and 2 win over Sweden's Alex Noren, setting up a David vs Goliath semi-final with tournament dark horse Hideto Tanihara - the 54th seed from Japan who advanced to the final four after defeating England's Ross Fisher 4 and 2.
Rahm, who bagged his first career victory on the US PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, welcomed the prospect of a final against Johnson, who he dubbed "the hottest player on Tour".
"If I end up playing against Dustin, I might benefit not looking at what he's doing because he's such a great player," said Rahm.
"You know he's going to hit it a mile off the tee, he's a great wedge player, and the hottest golfer we have right now on Tour."
The 32-year-old Johnson has won five US PGA Tour titles since claiming his first major championship at last year's US Open, including the Genesis Open in Los Angeles in February and his next start at the WGC Mexico Championship in March.
The tall, athletic Johnson, who ended Jason Day's 47-week reign atop the golf world rankings in Los Angeles, said he had been leaning on the advice of father-in-law and Canadian ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky.
"(Wayne) has been out here watching. We've spoken quite a bit about playing at an elite level," said Johnson.
Earlier, Australian Marc Leishman was sent packing from the WGC-Match Play after going down to a red-hot Phil Mickelson 4 and 3 in their final 16 clash.
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