Jon Rahm (PAR) has also been unable to get the monkey off his back at Valderrama. However, the Barrika native finished in tenth position at the LIV Andalucía and adds another top ten to his Saudi league record. In fact, he has always finished among the top ten every time he has appeared, except in Houston, where he had to withdraw due to a foot infection, the same injury that prevented him from playing the US Open a week later.
Let’s be clear: at this point, a top ten is no consolation to Jon. Much less at Valderrama, his first appearance in Spain since he left for LIV, where he had arrived with extra motivation. The fact is that his performance on the legendary Sotogrande course has been in some way a compendium of what is happening to him in 2024: for one reason or another, he is not able to win, although on other occasions he was much closer to victory than this week. Today, for example, he has shown too much inconsistency. He needed a strong start, starting seven strokes behind the leader and going out to play on hole 4, par 5, but he missed the birdie putt from about two meters. Then, he missed the tee shot on the 5th and missed a par putt from a meter and a half…
When it’s not one thing, it’s another. This could sum up Jon‘s year when it comes to crunch time. In fact, on his best playing day, Saturday, he didn’t even get the satisfaction of closing an outstanding record, finishing the round with a bogey on a par 5, after going into the water. Anyone who saw him play that day would agree that he could have signed a 66, five less, without too many problems, but the momentum he carries is negative.
Jon, in any case, remains second in the LIV ranking, although he no longer has the first, Joaquín Niemann, within victory reach, as before playing this week. He has no choice but to remain patient and keep smoothing out all those little details that are not currently in his favour. Right now, he cannot be considered a clear candidate for victory next week at the Open, not even considering who he is, although it is also true that these types of players are capable of finding the right path from one day to the next.
