It was Rahm's second PGA Tour title and fourth worldwide victory in a year and the win will see the 23-year-old Spaniard jump from No.3 to No.2 behind Dustin Johnson in the world rankings.

Rahm overcame surprising par-5 problems in regulation to shoot a five-under 67. Landry forced the playoff with an 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 68. They finished at 22-under 266.

Rahm watches as his putt to win drops on the fourth hole of a sudden death playoff for the CareerBuilder Challenge title. PHOTO: Robert Laberge/Getty Images.

Rahm missed a chance to win on the first extra trip down the 18th when his nine-foot birdie try slid left, and, on the second play-off hole Landry's eight-footer to end it went by to the right.

They missed long birdie tries on the third extra hole, the par-4 10th, before Rahm clinched the win on the next hole.

"It's hard to believe, to be honest, passing Jordan Spieth a three-time major champion," Rahm said of his new world ranking. "I only have two wins and he's got 10-plus, right? I never thought I was going to be at this point in my life right now.

"Tournaments like this build character. I'm just proud of myself to hit what's probably my least favourite club, which is the three-wood, three times in a row dead centre on my line on 18 - four times if you include the regular play.

"To be honest, really happy the way it happened the way it did and really proud of the way I played. I hit a lot of bad putts today, hit a lot of edges, but lucky the one I needed to make went in."

It was an unhappy trip to the California desert for the Australian contingent with all five players missing the cut.