SAN DIEGO (AFP) — Jon Rahm is aiming to join an elite club when he tees it up at the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in southern California on Thursday looking for a third straight victory.

The in-form Spaniard has made a flying start to 2023, winning the season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii before claiming The American Express in California last weekend.

A third consecutive tournament victory this week — at a golf course where he claimed the US Open in 2021 — would make Rahm the first player to win three straight starts on the PGA Tour since Dustin Johnson in 2017.

"I'm aware this is very rare and I appreciate it, because if anything, it's a humbling feeling of how much work you need to put in to be able to do something like this because of the talent you have out there," Rahm said after Tuesday's Pro-Am.

"I don't take it for granted because who knows how long till one of those (streaks) comes again."

Only two other golfers in the past 15 years have won three consecutive tournaments — Rory McIlroy in 2014 and Tiger Woods in 2008.

If Rahm is to join that illustrious company, he will do so at a course that has become a virtual home-from-home.