Twenty-one holes later, Jon Rahm (-9) has broken his bad streak on par 5s. Finally, on the 13th of the JCB Golf and Country Club in England, he opened the can. He hadn’t made a birdie on a par 5 since the second day at Valderrama. It was about time. However, Jon would have preferred to sign another 63 like on Friday, without birdies on the par 5s, than a 70 like today. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Be that as it may, that birdie on the 13th is not the important one of today’s round for Rahm. Not even the one on the 14th, the par where the gentlemen of LIV have set up the party this week, with music blaring and pints everywhere. No, the birdie that has much more substance than it may seem is the one on the 18th, on the last hole. It’s practically the difference between being in the fight for victory or having said goodbye to any option. We could almost call it a psychological birdie.
And it’s that Jon has been much more stuck today than yesterday. The main difference has been on the greens. He has made some important putts, but not as much as yesterday, and he has not been able to save the mistakes he has made, as he was able to do on the first day. With the irons he has been very irregular, again suffering in the first nine and a little more loose in the second nine.
However, when it seemed that, like on Friday, he was coming back and had activated attack mode, with two birdies on holes 13 and 14, Uncle Paco came with the discounts. The Uncle Paco who has been chasing Rahm this year every week, in every tournament, whether it’s a Major or a LIV tournament. Two bad holes, two bogeys on the 15th and 16th and way behind.
Jon had dropped to -8 and above they were going, especially Andy Ogletree (-12) and Cameron Smith (-10), who also got to -12 until he gave everyone a break with two final bogeys. Also Tyrrell Hatton (-10) was riding and coming back strong. In total, the victory was getting very, very uphill.
That’s when Jon managed to sign a great birdie on hole 18. Another good putt. His round has nothing to do with that birdie or without it. It’s night and day. He still hasn’t removed that kind of veil that follows him and doesn’t allow him to finish rounds and, above all, tournaments, but this Sunday he will have a good opportunity. He will have to play very well, more or less at the level of Friday, as the course is letting itself be done, with receptive greens.
Obviously, the victory has become complicated. He is three strokes behind Ogletree, who has not yet won in LIV, and one behind Cameron Smith, a tough rival who today has played as he had not been seen for a long time, especially with the irons, and Tyrrell Hatton. Two very serious rivals. In addition, he is tied with Paul Casey (-9), a favourite of the British public, and only one stroke ahead of Louis Ooshtuizen (-8) and Talor Gooch (-8), who has not been seen in the fight for victories for a long time. Practically, since his unfortunate comment about asterisks before the Masters of Augusta.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, David Puig (-5) has signed a very good round of 68 strokes and has placed fourteenth, within reach of the top 10 and with a good opportunity to close a great week in LIV. Sergio García (-3) will also fight to finish among the top ten once again, while Eugenio Chacarra (PAR) needs a great Sunday to start dispelling ghosts about his stay in LIV next year.
In the team classification, Legion XIII and Smash are tied at the top with -21. Four strokes behind are Torque, Stingers and HyFlyers.
