The history says it, the guy who has taken the lead says it, and his feelings say it too. Jon Rahm (PAR) has left his chances of victory at the Open Championship this Friday. Yes, we could leave a door open to a miracle, and we do so gladly, but as the name suggests, miracles happen very rarely, and this time, with Scottie Scheffler leading by ten strokes and 33 players ahead, not even that. Since 1970, 89 percent of Open winners have been within four strokes or less of the lead with two days to go. Jon is ten behind.
The golfer from Barrika played over par (72 strokes) on a day where the conditions were much better than Thursday. The wind didn’t really blow at any point during the day and, except for a couple of heavy and serious showers, which did affect at very specific moments, it was a day for birdies. No fewer than 45 players delivered under-par scores this Friday, a third more than on Thursday.
Rahm started the day well, with two birdies on the first par 5s. He played very well in that stretch, without getting into complications, although without leaving himself very clear birdie chances either. On the 8th hole, he missed the tee shot to the left, and from there, his game was erratic, with more problems than brilliant situations. In fact, his score from there was +3, with four bogeys and one birdie.
It’s very easy, perhaps too easy, to blame the putt. The statistics are clear. The longest putt he made was a metre and a half. It’s obvious he didn’t have the angel on his side on the greens. However, it’s worth digging a little deeper. He really didn’t leave them close. He didn’t have birdie chances to put all the responsibility on the putter. In 18 holes, only twice did he leave himself birdie chances of less than three metres. It’s a poor return. His three successes came on the par 5s, reaching the green in two, and on the 17th, thanks to a colossal drive that put him on the edge of the green. That’s about it. It’s very difficult to make birdies if you’re constantly putting from over nine metres.
From that 8th hole, Jon started to feel very uncomfortable. He hit two provisional balls during the day, although luckily neither was needed, but above all, he was a bit off with the distance with the irons. It wasn’t a disaster, but we could say it was poor. Moreover, you can’t say Jon putted badly today, quite the opposite. He hit a lot of long putts that just missed and had little trouble making pars. He simply created few birdie chances.
Barring a miracle, victory in the Open is already a chimera, although there is still much to fight for. After all, fifth place is only five strokes away.
