Seven seconds is all it took for Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler to say their goodbyes on the 18th green of Marco Simone, once they had tied their match, the first of the individual session of the last Ryder.
Seven seconds of mutual admiration.
Jon, who had started off leading with a birdie on hole 1, then lost the initiative, fell behind and later tied the duel again on hole 12, with a birdie, of course.
And on the 13th, par 3, he left a new birdie. One up.
However, on the 14th, it was Scottie who left the birdie from 150 meters. And on the 15th, the American sunk a putt of six or seven meters and turned the match around again.
On the 16th, that short par 4 that has forever been incorporated into our lives, both got the birdie. On the 17th, both pars, and on the 18th that birdie from Jon to tie the match after a last hour and a half of heart-stopping play…
Seven formidable seconds, which still raise the hair, because at that moment they symbolized, embodied, the most beautiful struggle for the supremacy of world golf that had been seen in a long time, with the permission of the eternal McIlroy. Scheffler may not be a noisy Number One, influencer, but everyone knows, Jon the first, that there is no tougher bone, there is no fiercer and more stubborn rival today in his divine consistency.
Only 83 days have passed, but for a little over two weeks, the time that has passed since Jon announced his departure to LIV, we can be quite sure that nothing will ever be the same again.
Not even if the damn agreement is signed once and for all? Well, not even then, gentlemen, not even then. Because no formula would ensure that Jon and Scottie would face each other again over the 34 weeks in which they have competed in 2022 and 2023, the two years in which their titanic rivalry has been forged, right at the foot of the world throne.
No formula, unless Scheffler signed for LIV… And not even then. They wouldn’t see each other in the same context. They would do it in a more relaxed, less demanding scenario. And much more boring.
In the worst case scenario, that LIV and PGA Tour each go their own way, they would face each other again in the Majors. And maybe in a Ryder, again. A real blow to the fan: more Abergs will come, more Hovlands will evolve towards excellence, the powerful machinery of the stars and stripes will continue to produce killers of all sizes, classes and conditions, but this immense rivalry, legendary, this epic duel has been cut short too soon.
