From the exhibition of the first return to the pick and shovel, first, and to the suffering, later, of the second. Jon Rahm came from 65 strokes on Thursday at Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlandoa tournament he is playing for the second time and in a state where he has never won, at 76 (+4) on Friday.
All on a slightly windy day and tougher conditions on the Bay Hill course. He left early in the morning and his card included two balls in the water, one on each side of the selective course, four bogeys and a double bogey for just two birdies. With a total of 141 (-3), he is currently outside the top 10 and far from the leader.
Jon is erratic again off the tee -and this is where you pay dearly- and also on some shots on the green. And unlike the first round, this time he didn’t putt as much as he would have liked. The Bermuda rough of this field gobbles up the ball and Barrika’s suffered himself to save the pair when the situation became complicated.
He finished in the lead on Thursday with a 65 (-7) and two ahead, and held that privileged position until the 14th hole (his 5th since he went out for the 10th) after a bogey which left him with -6. On 15 (6), after a ball in the starting water, he scored a painful double bogey-7 that dropped him to -4 but still in the top 10.
In the last three holes, a little bit of everything: a great shot by Rahm on the par 3 of 7 (birdie), three putts on 8 (bogey) that closes the round, the truth is a bit forgotten, with another second shot on the green missed and another bogey. Among the leaders, he was the only one to finish under par. Now it’s time to analyze the failures, reset, turn the page as soon as possible and continue the weekend fight.
Jon tees off after 7.30 American time for the 10th hole, and the truth is that the drive from the tee is so beautiful and so long, the Basque is 285 meters away. He played a cautious approach about 4.5 meters from the flag and missed the birdie. His match partner, Olympic gold medalist, Xander Schauffele, signed the ‘3’ instead, playing a great shot from the fairway bunker and scoring from two meters.
On the 11th, Rahm went overboard with a drive and then, one shot short, was unable to save par. First bogey of the day. On 12 and 13 he made par and on hole 14, a par 3, he nailed the ball a meter from the rag to add his first birdie of the day and move back to -7 at the top of the table.
On hole 15 he had a very clear opportunity to open a small hole after a good second shot that left the ball two meters away, but he missed the putt; he did not take advantage of the second par 5 of this second part of the course (discreet exit from the bunker and subsequent putt of 3.5 meters that did not reach the hole) and on the 17th the presence was complicated, well resolved for that reason at the end , with two long putts.
On the 18th he missed the second shot, in the bunker on the left, but he got out of the sand very well and tied ‘4’. In total, whose summary of his first 9 holes was a bogey and a birdie, -7 in the table and co-led by the American Kitayama. Coliderato gave holes later.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
