The second round of the LIV Golf in Houston brought two pieces of good news and one bad for the Spaniards. Starting with the latter, Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw when he had barely completed his first six holes of the day. The Barrika native suffers from a cut between the toes of one foot that, to make matters worse, has become infected, so he was in quite a bit of pain and has chosen to stop with the aim of recovering as best as possible for next week’s US Open at Pinehurst.
Legion XIII could not replace him today, but tomorrow will count on Ben Campbell in the final round, in which the four results of each team add up. Although their chances of fighting for the team victory are non-existent, unlike what happens in the individual fight with two of the other three Spaniards in contention in this eighth event of the Saudi tour season. David Puig (-10), co-leader, and Sergio García (-7), only three strokes behind, will seek to open their victory tally in LIV Golf.
Lucas Herbert gives @JonRahmOfficial some motivation for next week 👀#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/jYA48KX0p5
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 8, 2024
For the La Garriga native, a fourth place is his best result since he joined the circuit. The Borriol native, for his part, has three second places, two this same season, in Mayakoba and Miami, and another last season, in Singapore. The playoffs have cost Sergio dearly, who will try to come back tomorrow to, like David, be in a position to fight for what would be the second title of a Spaniard on the tour, after the victory achieved by Eugenio López Chacarra (-3) in his day.
The Madrid native has run out of options after handing in a par round this Saturday. Puig, with a great 66 with seven birdies and one bogey, will start from the top of the table tied with Paul Casey (-10), Carlos Ortiz (-10) and Adrián Meronk (-10), with one advantage over Patrick Reed (-9), very motivated at his home. Sergio, for his part, closed with a painful bogey on his last flag of the day a round of 70 strokes with three birdies and that single mistake on the par four of hole 2. The swords, in any case, are high in Houston, where the teams do lead with authority the Spaniards with the Fireballs (-26) leading the classification with four strokes of advantage.
