Jon Rahm (+9) has ended his first defence of the Augusta Masters with a scorecard of 76 strokes this Sunday, the second worst of his career, with three bogeys, two double bogeys and three birdies. A lot has happened in his round, some extraordinary, like the birdie from the fairway on the 7th, but the vast majority negative, such as the mess on the 10th or the +2 partial on the par 5s.
The Barrika native assures that today he has felt better with his swing, even though the result says otherwise. “It has been one of those weeks where nothing has come out, it’s annoying to play so badly the year you have to put on the green jacket, but it is what it is”. Rahm finishes in 45th place, tied with Olazábal, his worst ranking in the Masters ever with his worst accumulated result. It is also the first time he has not achieved any round under par.
However, beyond these negative issues, which are absolutely evident and to which Jon does not sugarcoat or want to go further (he is one of those who prefers to quickly turn the page when things go wrong), the week also leaves two adverse surprises. One for which he plans to remedy ipso facto, and another to which he prefers to give the right importance.
The first has to do with LIV Golf. Rahm acknowledged today that the treatment of some golfers towards him has changed for the worse since he moved to the Saudi league. Keep in mind that this week was the first time he saw many since he decided to make the jump from the PGA Tour to LIV. “Yes, I have noticed some hostile attitudes. There are players with whom I had a cordial relationship before and now they don’t greet me. It’s like that. I knew it could happen and I came prepared. I don’t give it more importance. If someone decides to change their relationship with me because of my decision, that’s on them. There have also been some players that I didn’t really know what to expect from and who, however, have given me a hug when we have seen each other. I don’t give it more importance,” says the Basque golfer.
The other surprise belongs to the technical sphere of the game, or rather to the strategy in Augusta. Until this edition, the hole where Rahm had the best accumulated result was the 2nd, first par 5. His partial in his first seven participations was -20. It was the best by far, with a five-stroke difference to the 13th. Well, this week the partial on that hole 2 is +1.
What has changed? It has an explanation. The Masters has premiered this year on that hole a new tee located a little more to the left and further back. The new angle and added distance have made Rahm, on three of the four days, end up in the right bunker of the fairway, a position from which it is already impossible to shoot in two to the green. He needs to close the ball a little more from the tee to avoid the trap and he has not achieved it any day.
The truth is that Rahm, although he can do it at times, finds it difficult to close the ball with the driver. For that reason, he has taken good note of what has happened and assures that he will change the strategy in the future. “I think from now on I’m going to go out on that hole with a 3-wood, even if I leave it up, at least I’ll have a chance to shoot in two,” he says. In addition, if he manages to close the ball he can also take it down. They say you always learn something new at the Masters. Jon takes this new roadmap.
Finally, it is still too early to think about the PGA Championship, the next Major. He prefers to take it easy. “I don’t think going to a Major upset is the best thing. Calm. There will be time to make the right reading of what has happened this week, which will not take me much time, and to think about the PGA. Before that, I have a long trip to Australia and Singapore to play in LIV. There will be time to think about the PGA”.
What will be a motivation will be to put the green jacket on another player today. “It will be a beautiful image that will last forever. It’s going to be good. If I put it on Scottie, it would be funny. He put it on me and now I, like Nicklaus and Palmer and Tiger and Phil did, although I’m not comparing myself to them. That’s for sure, putting the jacket on someone else, it will definitely motivate me for next year,” he concludes.
