A monstrous 3-wood from the left rough of the 18th at The Club at Steyn City, with the ground very wet and 257 metres from the flag, has ended up toppling a gladiator called Jon Rahm on the first playoff hole. Bryson DeChambeau produced a magical shot, one of those that, if anything, only a handful can pull off, and left it five metres for eagle. It was the shot that decided the LIV Golf in South Africa. Nothing more.
Jon, perfectly placed in the middle of the fairway after a sensational tee shot, failed to hit the 3-wood he needed. He came up short and the ball ended in the bunker. Ahead, one of those daunting bunker shots. More than 30 metres to the flag, stuck in a trap that had taken a lot of rain in the last hour. He came up short, a little farther than DeChambeau, and missed the putt. An insufficient par. Bryson didn’t even need to hole his eagle chance to be crowned champion.
Second consecutive victory for DeChambeau on LIV Golf. To last week’s win in Singapore he now adds the one in South Africa. Up next, the Masters. A dream route for the two-time US Open champion. It’s the second playoff he has played and won in LIV. Jon has lost all four he has played. Playoffs get the better of the one from Barrika.
In any case, honours to the Spaniard. The great achievement today was reaching the playoff. Rahm did it with an exceptional round of golf. He carded 63, displaying spectacular tee-to-green play and with that inspiration on the greens he needed to give himself a chance. Today the putts did fall. In fact he was close to holing a very long birdie putt at 17 that could have tipped the balance in his favour. Ironically, the worst putt turned out to be the playoff birdie attempt. Offline from the start.
There aren’t many criticisms to level at Rahm today. His four-under stretch between holes 8 and 10, with two birdies and an eagle, was fabulous. That run is what allowed him to get into the fight to win against a DeChambeau who was by no means making it easy. There’s his sensational five-under over the first ten holes.
But Jon never stopped believing. That’s his main value as an athlete and competitor. He always gives that bit extra. He doesn’t give up until the referee blows the whistle. He made two more birdies at 14 and 16 and took advantage of DeChambeau’s scoring drying up from the 11th. He did not manage another birdie until the playoff hole. In the middle of this battle it started pouring in Steyn City and made it all the harder to make birdies. That rain is the only thing that prevented the winner from getting to -28 or lower. In the end, they finished level at -26.
It’s the fifth tournament of the year on LIV Golf and Rahm’s record is one victory, three second places and a fifth. Impeccable. He also arrives at the Masters in fine form. The only question left is whether, once and for all, LIV Golf is a good testing ground for the Majors and we’ll see him in the mix. If he keeps his game in the same top condition, there’s no reason to think Jon won’t be in the battle on Sunday at Augusta.
DeChambeau, for his part, has two wins and a third place. Not bad at all, although he lacks Jon’s extraordinary consistency. The duel between them for the individual LIV standings promises to be very exciting. Jon will always be there. The question is whether Bryson can maintain that solidity throughout the season. Jon’s points lead remains very generous.
The other big battle on Sunday was in the team classification and was hugely exciting. A fight between South Africa’s Southern Guards and DeChambeau’s Crushers in front of a crowd devoted to their own who sang their national anthem on the 18th green seconds before Branden Grace played a birdie putt to force a team playoff. Grace missed it and DeChambeau completed a double, though the crowd never stopped enjoying themselves. Not even when it was bucketing down. LIV comes out strengthened from its visit to South Africa. Right now, alongside Australia, it is its great stronghold. The South African fans experienced it as if it were a Ryder Cup.
Rahm se abre por primera vez a pagar las multas al DP World Tour
Great performance also from David Puig (-22). The man from La Garriga shot 66 this Sunday, another great round, though insufficient to keep up with the outstanding scoring pace of DeChambeau and Rahm. He finishes sixth. It’s his third top-10 in five tournaments. Next stop: the Indian Open on the DP World Tour. There he will have an opportunity to qualify for the Masters.
Meanwhile, Josele Ballester (-17) just missed the top 10, a bad day for Sergio García (-16) and the best performance of the year for Luis Masaveu (-12), in 29th place.
