With a round of 71 strokes, one over par, Jon Rahm has lost almost all his chances of fighting for victory this Friday at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The man from Barrika will need almost a miracle tomorrow to reach the final round with any chance of competing for the Claret Jug. But the feeling he leaves with this Friday is one of frustration and having missed a good opportunity. At least that’s the impression he gives in his statements to Golf on Movistar+.
“Seven very good holes and from the eighth onwards, nothing…”, that’s how the Basque golfer summed up his performance in this second day of competition in the tournament. However, he avoided blaming his putting game for the final result: “Yes and no. It’s not that I had… except for the three putts on the 16th, which was off the green, it’s not that I had very close chances to make them. I was at least five metres or more away. It’s not easy to leave them short, obviously it’s my fault, whether they want to go in or not is another thing. But it was also from the tee, it’s not that I made bad swings, whether it was the wind or whatever, every time I missed the fairway I was in a very bad position, right? And that’s a bit of the luck you need sometimes to get a better result. But I don’t know, I had chances and I just didn’t take them.”
"Hoy no hay excusas. He jugado mal…😔".
Jon Rahm, con @lidia_blanco tras una mala jornada de #TheOpen.#AquíGritamosGolf pic.twitter.com/zog1TgDsUE
— Golf en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarGolf) July 18, 2025
Jon also didn’t want to blame his over-par round on the afternoon shift and the rain that appeared at times over the course: “No, today, except for three holes, it was very easy. It couldn’t have been easier. Today there’s no excuse, I played badly. Yesterday yes, yesterday I played very well and maybe it was a bad shift, right? But not today… and the holes where it rained, on the 2nd I made a birdie. And then we had a bit on the 9th, but from the tee it wasn’t raining, the 10th, the 11th, the 12th, right? No, not the 11th, the 11th on the green and then the 12th, which were a great shot from the fairway on the 11th and on the 12th I made par. The rest no, it’s two and a half holes, look at it now, easier, impossible. It’s just playing badly.”
The tone of disappointment from the champion from Barrika suggested that he doesn’t give himself any chance of winning this Open, despite being a player who thrives in difficult moments. His 10-stroke disadvantage with the leader, none other than the Number One in the world, seems a difficult mountain to climb: “No, I’ve just finished, it’s not that I don’t give myself a chance, it’s that I’m in a very bad mood. Plus, I finished terribly. The bogey on the 16th is unforgivable and so is the one on the 18th. With so much space on that green, they’re bad shots. It’s not that I don’t have hope, but I’ve played very badly and I’m angry.”
