Sergio García (-9) continues to knock on the door of victory. The Spaniard remains determined not to give up, to regain his best form and win his first tournament on the Saudi circuit. Today, on the second day of LIV Golf Miami, Sergio handed in a solid scorecard of 68 strokes. The Spaniard remains the sole leader of the tournament and two strokes ahead of his immediate pursuers, who are not few. 18 holes ahead.
This season, the Borriol native already came close to victory in Mayakoba. Only a playoff kept him from tasting a win almost four years later. By knocking and knocking, the door is going to end up falling under its own weight. Will it be tomorrow at the Trump National Doral? There are only six days left until the Masters begins. It is by no means time to put pressure on the Castellón native, but he already knows what it is like to win in Augusta and hopefully he can maintain this level next week.
‘El Niño’ started the day showing why he had become the tournament leader yesterday and was close to the eagle from the fairway on the opening hole. Two great putts and another magnificent approach that was practically given, completed a textbook first round. Four birdies in the first nine flags gave him a two-stroke lead on the board.
From there, Sergio began to struggle a bit more and, 29 holes after the start of the tournament, his first bogey fell. In these second nine holes, came the most earthly version of the week, especially with the irons.
However, the Borriol native has played with great intelligence to save pars in delicate moments and finely support himself with his new putter. Let’s remember that Sergio has recovered this week the Scotty Cameron Del Mar Prototype, the same putter he used in 1999, although adapted to the circumstances and materials of 2024. For example, the four-meter putt that Sergio holed on the 18th hole and that gave him a two-stroke lead in the championship is fundamental. It will surely give him a lot of confidence for tomorrow.
In the second round it was time to grit your teeth and hold on. He did so until the par 3 of the 15th hole where he brought out the putter again, holing a putt of more than nine meters. A painful bogey on the 17th after his worst putt of the day he recovered immediately with a great final birdie.
Tomorrow Sergio seeks a victory that will return him to the circle of winners. The competition will be very large. In second position are five players tied at seven under par: Adrien Meronk, Tyrrel Hatton, Dean Burmester, Matthew Wolff and Talor Gooch.
Jon Rahm (-5) finished the second day in eleventh position. The Barrika native started the round at hole 3. Rahm has not managed at any time to start the engine that would lift him to the hot spots on the board and closed at par his first nine flags with two hits and two misses. On hole 16, Jon left one of the shots of the day by holing a beautiful approach. He was close to repeating it on the next hole.
Despite everything, Rahm is only four strokes behind Sergio García, although given the momentum Jon is carrying, it seems difficult for him to fight for the final victory. We’ll see if tomorrow the ‘Lion of Barrika’ pulls out of his hat that magical round that gives him a big boost for what’s coming next week at Augusta National.
By the way, when Jon finished the round, ‘his’ Athletic Bilbao ended in a one-all draw the regular 90 minutes of the Copa del Rey final. Although he would surely have preferred a victory without the need for extra time, the Barrika native was able to watch the end of the match at the Trump National Doral clubhouse.
Discreet day for Eugenio Chacarra (+1) and David Puig (+6) who finish the first two days in 34th and 45th position, respectively. Tomorrow they will try to grit their teeth to gain as many positions as possible in the final tournament table.
Cameron Smith has withdrawn from the tournament and did not even take to the field. Alarms are sounding less than six days before the start of the Augusta Masters, although it does not seem that the stomach discomfort he is suffering will prevent him from playing the first Major of the season.
In the team competition, the team captained by Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (-21), leads the table with a three-stroke advantage over Bubba Watson’s Range Goats (-18).
