Jon Rahm (-4) hasn’t played his best golf this Friday in the second round of the Open de España. Not that he needs to. His pockets are full of tricks. He pulls birdies out of thin air. When the long game isn’t strong, he relies on the short game, on brilliance, and that’s it. This is how he managed to deliver a splendid card of 67 strokes to get back in the fight for victory. Official: Jon’s shadow is now very long at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. The image appearing in all the rear-view mirrors is that of the giant from Barrika.
Rahm got into the swing of things with his spectacular skill around the green. It all started on the 4th hole. His second shot wasn’t the best. He found the bunker, but his escape was masterful. First red mark on his card. The next came on the 6th. A colossal drive, long, but to the left, the stream crossing the fairway wasn’t even in sight and ended up in the rough. He left himself a second shot of about 50 metres. Not easy, no matter how much he downplayed it after signing the card. Out of this world. Birdie given. Immediately after, again he missed the green on the 7th. Back to the bunker. Another escape for the connoisseurs. Birdie done. As you can see, it wasn’t a display of otherworldly golf. Just a thousand and one tricks to make birdies.
In fact, the only ‘normal’ birdie he achieved all day was on the 12th hole. Great drive to the first cut of rough, perfect ball, accurate second shot, and a putt of about four metres for birdie. Textbook. The other three birdies of the day, on holes 8, 16, and 18, came again with a demonstration of short game. On the 8th, he had 70 metres from the rough, on the 16th about 90 metres, also from the rough, and on the 18th he executed a prodigious chip from the edge of the green. Again, he hit it very long. He’s hitting it very long.
Rahm has moved into the top 20 of the tournament after his five under par for the day. He is five strokes behind Marco Penge (-9), the new sole leader of the tournament. Be careful because the Englishman is not a straw leader. Quite the opposite. It won’t be easy to knock him off the pedestal. There are 17 players between Penge and Rahm, but the Brit will be dreaming of the man from Barrika tonight.
In any case, Jon is clear that he will need a very low round to give himself a chance on Sunday. His calculations for the winning score are -15. That means he needs to go nine under par over the weekend. It’s no small feat. If he wants to place the fourth Open de España champion trophy next to the one-metre Darth Vader with Athletic de Bilbao scarves that presides over his office, he’ll need the force to be with him.
