Jon Rahm (-8) has matched his best record in a round at LIV Golf and has taken the solo lead of the LIV Golf UK after the first day. The golfer from Barrika has made 63 strokes at the JCB Golf and Country Club, a course located a few kilometres from the city of Derby, south of Manchester and Liverpool, and leads with two ahead of Andy Ogletree and Abraham Ancer and three over Tyrrell Hatton and Cameron Smith. Similarly, his team Legion XIII leads the team classification with a result of -12, one less than the Fireballs, the Smash and the HyFlyers.
Jon admitted at the conclusion of the Open Championship at Royal Troon last Sunday that he was lacking finish. He was missing the starting centre forward. Well, today he has returned in style. He has come off the bench, put on his boots and plugged in as only he knows how to do. Obviously, to make eight under par you have to play very well in all areas of the field, but if anything has stood out today it has been his deployment on the greens. He has made many and very important putts, first for par and then for birdie.
Interestingly, Rahm has not been particularly brilliant from the tee. He has struggled on some outings, with mistakes, especially on the left, but he has managed to minimise the big mistakes and has made good par putts that sustain a round when the game is not flowing wonderfully.
Jon started on hole 2 with birdie, from there he saved good pars and prepared the ground for an extraordinary finish. He took the fireworks out of the bag and signed six birdies in nine holes. Today he should have been at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, but his commitment to LIV has prevented it. Thus, Jon has decided to set up his own Olympic ceremony in the UK.
In the high zone have also placed Louis Oosthuizen (-4), Brooks Koepka (-4) or Paul Casey (-4), as well as Sergio García (-3), who has also finished like a motorcycle, with five birdies in his last eight holes. It is enough for him to be one stroke from the top 10, perfectly positioned for the two rounds that remain. Another great finish from David Puig (-2), with four birdies in the last five holes, also allows him to be quite close to the battle. The cross of the day was for Eugenio Chacarra (+1), who played under par and is in the lower area of the classification.
On the negative side, the bad starts of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, both with +1 playing at home, or Bryson DeChambeau (+2) stand out.
