Jon Rahm (-9) has lost ground in the LIV Golf in Saudi Arabia. The golfer from Barrika could not continue his phenomenal first day this Saturday and has significantly complicated his chances of victory. He started the day tied for the lead with Adrian Meronk and will go to bed tonight in fifth position, four strokes behind the new leader of the tournament, one of the usual suspects in world golf in recent times, the Chilean Joaquín Niemann (-13).
Rahm has handed in a card of 69 strokes, one under par, at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club and has lost a lot of ground on a day where the wind has blown stronger and the results have suffered a bit. Even so, birdies have been the order of the day and that’s why Rahm’s one under par feels like little.
Jon started the day with a birdie, marking territory and taking the lead alone, becoming the first player to reach double digits. From there, a sudden halt to his round. He made six consecutive pars before stumbling for the first time on hole 8, par 3. However, his reaction was splendid, he signed two very good birdies on 9 and 10 and regained the lead alone.
Jon seemed to have control of the operations, but two consecutive bogeys on holes 12 and 13, always the 13 and its tense start giving headaches, coupled with the magnificent finish of players like Niemann, Schwartzel, Kokrak or Ancer, relegated him in the standings. The golfer from Biscay made a birdie on 15, a short par 4 with a very pronounced dog leg to the left, but was not able to take advantage of two birdie holes like 17 and 18.
So, Jon will start this Sunday four strokes behind leader Joaquín Niemann, two behind Schwartzel and one behind Kokrak and Oosthuizen. In addition, he is tied with Ancer, a player who has already won on this course, Herbert and Meronk. Without a doubt, he is in the fight for victory, but his chances of achieving the first in LIV have been significantly complicated. It will not be easy to overthrow a golfer as in form as Niemann.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, David Puig (-4) has signed 68 strokes and has placed himself in the middle of the table. Behind are Sergio García (-2) and Eugenio Chacarra (PAR).
On the other hand, Anthony Kim (+12) continues to struggle in his return to competition. He occupies the last position, with a card today of 76 strokes, nine strokes from the penultimate in the table.
