Imperial Jon Rahm. The man from Barrika has shown this Friday at the start of the Ryder Cup why he is one of the great stalwarts of the European team. Two matches, two victories. Something only Tommy Fleetwood and he can say.
It is the second time the man from Barrika has scored two points in a single day, having done so with Sergio García at Whistling Straits, but the way he has achieved it and the boost he gives to the European team, it can be considered Jon Rahm’s best day in a Ryder. He did it by defeating Bryson DeChambeau in the morning and Scottie Scheffler in the afternoon. 5&3 and 3&2 against the two most important players of the American team. Pim, pam, pum. By the way, in his last twelve matches in this competition, he only lost the Sunday singles in 2021. Eight wins, three draws, and one loss. Quite something.
The man from Barrika played marvellously. He admitted that this morning he started a bit timid due to nerves, but once he got going, no one could stop him. “The truth is, I think I played well,” although he immediately downplays his merit and credits his playing partners, Tyrrell Hatton and Sepp Straka.
The reality is that in the afternoon session, Rahm was master of the scene, accompanied by the Austrian at key moments, like the chip on the 2nd and the putts on the 14th and 16th, but with the Spaniard reciting poetry at Bethpage Black. Rahm secured three of the team’s four holes, as well as a heavenly putt on the fifteenth to prevent Scheffler from closing the gap. It hasn’t been his best year, despite winning the LIV overall, for the Spaniard, a year without victories cannot be considered outstanding. However, winning in New York being so prominent can change the perception of a season.
There is a statistic that reflects the level he has reached. In the 31 holes he has played, he has only lost two, and both were on the 1st hole of each match. From there, he doesn’t know what it means to concede.
This Saturday, Rahm will start the day with his loyal partner and will aim for a historic record for the European team. At the moment, a certain Luke Donald is the player with the highest percentage of points, having played at least ten matches. The captain has accumulated 10.5 points in 15 matches, a percentage of 70%. Precisely Jon, with the two points from Friday, has a total of 9.5 points in 14 matches. That means with a morning win, he would catch up with his captain on that historic list.
The curious thing about all this is that Tommy Fleetwood will also wake up on Saturday with the possibility, not only of matching Luke, but even surpassing him. The Englishman has accumulated 10 points in 14, so he would reach 11 in 15, surpassing by half a point. Probably Jon doesn’t mind if Tommy leads that statistic with 11 points. It will be good news for European interests.
Of Tyrrell Hatton, he only has good words. A duo on the way to great feats. In fact, Tyrrell and Jon can tomorrow match Sergio García and Luke Donald as the second pair in history to win their first four foursomes together (Rory and Tommy can also join the club). Two records wrapped in a single victory. Hopefully. The complicity between them has been palpable once again.: “I get to know him better every time, and we have a great time with more jokes. There have been moments when things weren’t going well, and we joked and laughed together. And with Sepp, the same. With certain things the public said, we managed to laugh at each other. If they spoke to us, we laughed among ourselves, and I think that’s what kept our spirits so high.”
