Sergio García teed off last year at the LIV Golf Andalucía seven strokes behind Anirban Lahiri and ended up winning the tournament in a playoff. He signed a card of 66 strokes on Sunday compared to the 73 made by the Indian golfer. A great comeback. Jon Rahm (-1) is six strokes behind Talor Gooch (-7). It’s not about making an analogy, but at least it offers hope. Yes, it can be done.
Obviously, these are different situations. We’ve gone from Lahiri to Gooch and from Sergio to Rahm. It’s not the same. Gooch has already won three times in LIV, and one of those victories was right here at Valderrama. To top it off, his game fits like a glove at the Sotogrande coliseum.
The analysis is done by Rahm, who is no small figure. “Talor has a lot, a lot of quality to keep that ball very low. Low ball, draw and fade, which is what’s needed here against the wind. With the greens a bit softer, with the wind in favour, he doesn’t need to adjust anything. Add to that he’s already won here and, obviously, he’s playing well,” says Rahm.
In any case, Jon not only remembers Sergio’s precedent from last year. He also recalls the one who finished second behind Christiaan Bezuidenhout. “I also was 5 or 6 strokes behind that year (it was in 2019, I was five behind and finished six behind), and the key is to cut it in half after the first nine, which isn’t much, and if I make a couple of birdies at the end, it changes a lot. It’s possible, yes,” he asserts with his usual confidence.
We talk about Sergio García’s precedent last year, but it’s also worth talking about this year’s Sergio. He is seven strokes behind Gooch, the same situation as with Lahiri. The man from Borriol does not rule out another sorpasso, as his game is getting better and better. Definitely, as we mentioned in Ten Golf, the five centimetres are working. “I feel I played very well the last two days, but unfortunately, I’ve probably given away at least seven or eight strokes in the last two rounds. Today, with the game I showed, I could have easily shot 7 under par and I shot 3. Yesterday, I probably should have shot 1 under in those conditions and ended 2 over… So yes, it’s a bit disappointing. I’m not going to lie. But the good thing is I really like how I’m hitting the ball. I’ve had some issues with my game in the last few months, but I definitely feel that a couple of things I’ve been doing are on the right track. I just need to score. It’s as simple as that,” he notes.
Regarding a possible comeback, Sergio admits it will be very difficult. “Everything has to go my way. Not only do I have to play very well, but the leaders have to play poorly. It’s a combination of things. That’s why it’s a bit of a shame that, even after shooting two over this morning, with the way I played this afternoon, if I had managed a six under—which would have been easy with my game—you’d be four under in the tournament, very close, two or three strokes away, and it would be a bit more attainable. I’ll try to play a great round and see what happens”.
