Jon Rahm (-9) missed the fairway on the 18th hole of Le Golf National on the second day of the Olympic Games in Paris and his gesture of anger said it all. It was not a serious mistake. He hit with the driver, the ball opened a bit more than necessary and ended up in the right rough, in an area very similar to Thursday’s. It was no drama. But Jon was annoyed.
The main reason, besides obviously complicating operations on that hole, is that he was about to sign an anthological full house on the Versailles course, almost extraterrestrial. He had taken the 13 fairways and all the greens. Only the last fairway escaped him and that also cost him the only green of the day. At the time of handing in his card (today he played in one of the first matches of the day) he was by far the best of all from the tee. It has been an exhibition. His only bogey was produced with a three-putt on the 8th.
The unwritten manuals of Le Golf National say that to make few here you have to hunt many fairways and many greens. Jon followed them to the letter this Friday and for that reason, among other things, he delivered a sensational result of 66 strokes, five under par, which keeps him in the absolute fight for the medals. Rahm’s accounts come out. The goal, he said, was to be between -15 and -20. At the moment, he has a projected -18. Impeccable.
He has played so impressively from tee to green that the only but that could be put is not having squeezed a little more the result. It’s not that in Paris they are giving away low rounds, but Jon felt at the end that he had missed at least a couple of strokes. Apart from the 18th hole, where he signed an extraordinary recovery from the bunker, with a shot and putt from almost 40 meters, the longest birdie putt he threw was 10.5 meters on the 11th (par 3), a shot that was in line to the flag and that puzzled him that it was so short. Beyond that, he putted for birdie from six meters or less on 11 occasions.
The main opportunities that escaped him were on the 6th, from about two and a half meters, and on the 9th, par 5, where he made three shots from seven meters on the edge of the green. It is true that he did not leave many balls very close, but he surely counted on having put some of those six-meter options. On the contrary, we must highlight the sensational nine-meter putt that he did hole in the 2nd hole, to start the round, and another one in the 15th from about four and a half meters. In short, it’s not that it tastes little, which would be asking too much, but he lacked one or two strokes less to have been a round masterpiece.
In any case, he is with nine under par, two strokes from Xander Schauffele (-11), provisional leader at the time the Spaniard finished. He is in a fantastic situation to fight for gold, silver or bronze in the remaining 36 holes. If he maintains the same level with his long game in the two remaining rounds, he will undoubtedly be the man to beat.
David Puig (-4) is somewhat far from the head, but his second consecutive round of 69 strokes still leaves him within reach of the important positions. He still has margin. Today, unlike yesterday, he finished spectacularly, with three birdies in the second nine holes. This lifted a round that had started somewhat twisted, with two consecutive bogeys on holes 7 and 8. Certainly, it will not be for lack of courage and courage. He is not quite fine from tee to green. Today he has taken less than half of the fairways and fifty percent of the greens and yet he survives in the tournament. It is a reflection of the enormous capacity he has.
The best round of the day at the time of writing this chronicle is that of Thomas Detry (-8), 63 strokes, the same as Matsuyama on Thursday, followed by the 64 of Stephan Jaeger (-7) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (-5).
