Rahm doesn’t tease Koepka but keeps his options intact

The rain passed, the wind followed, the sun came out and Jon Rahmworld number 3, leader of the FedEx Cup and winner this 2023 of three PGA Tour tournaments, finished the third day of Augustan Masters with 73 hits for 207 within two of the leader Brooks Koepka (73 for 205, -11) with the third guest, the Norwegian Victor Hovland (70 for 208, -8), in this Sunday afternoon match for the Green Jacket.

With Hovland’s permission, the Koepka-Rahm rivalry is more than pure and tough competition: it is a confrontation between two poles that repel each other today and much more: Saudi LIV Golf against the traditional American circuit and the Rahm is where more. sanity, ‘seny’ and good sense put facts and declarations in the last days and weeks.

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The Basque (he restarted the third round after a break on Saturday due to heavy rain to four) was one stroke away from the American who finished on the 12th hole, the par 3 of Amen Corner, after Koepka signed for bogey, but three putts at the 13th, another three (for par at the 15th) and a fourth bogey of the day at the 16th deprived Barrika of a closer approach with 18 holes just.

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But because there’s something for everyone at this Masters, Koepka also made three putts on 17 and cut the gap to two with 18 to play. A final hole both settled for par. Between this finish and the start of the fourth and decisive lap, there was a break of over two and a half hours. In total, Rahm and Koepka will play the full 29 holes this Sunday.

It’s all Jon’s bad lap at the 87th Masters this Sunday morning. Koepka, who is a tough nut to crack, gave signs of opening the door for his rivals at the top of the table, but in reality Rahm, winner of the US Open in 2021who had his choices to cough harder in the neck to the double champion of the US Open (2017 and 2018) and PGA (2018 and 2019) and don’t/don’t know how to identify them.

It is true that the course is not easy with the continuous eddies of the wind from Augusta that make a good shot does not end up being so. And the slower greens played a trick on the Basque. Painful three putts on 13, where he had no choice but to play two on the green, and those on 15 were more predictable because the second shot left the ball several meters from the flag.

On this hole, Koepka probably had the luck of the champion because after his third shot the ball bounced off the green, it did a lot of backspin (reverse) and when everything indicated it would end up in the water it it stopped at the bare collar. of green. He saved the ‘5’ and breathed a sigh of relief.

So, Koepka and Rahm would tie the game in the final game, with Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who was completely out of contention after the 10th hole, but chained five consecutive birdies to deliver a card of 70 shots, two under par, and 208 (-8) overall, third solo. He will appear in the penultimate game with the American Patrick Cantlay (68 for 210).

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