Jon Rahm He has no choice this Sunday to fight for victory in Hong Kong LIV. The Barrika player shared a massive eighth place in a tournament that ended with a tiebreaker victory Abraham Ancerwho won a three-way fight against Paul Casey and Cameron Smith.
Ancer, who came into the final day as a firm leader, suffered greatly here, but ended up sharing first place with -13 with Casey and with Smith. With a birdie in the playoff, he secured the victory against the bogeys of his rivals. Joaquín Niemann and Carlos Ortiz are fourth with -12 and Jon Rahm finished eighth tied at -10, on a day with Eugenio López-Chacarra fifteenth with -9, with David Puig thirty-four with -4 and with Sergio Garcia thirty eight with -3.
Ancer He started the final round with a five-stroke lead over López-Chacarra and Harold Varner III, which melted away on the final day. The Mexican player also struggled, with one birdie and three bogeys that required him to use the tiebreaker to beat Casey (six birdies without error) and Smith (four birdies without error). Rahm suffered even more, with four birdies and three bogeys, two of them late in his round to leave him without any chance of winning.
The truth is Rahm was fully in the fight for victory with five holes to go. At the time he had a -12, two strokes behind Ancer who opened the door on the 15th hole to his rivals after getting into a muddy estuary, having to drop and make a bogey that ruined the two- stroke lead. which he had until then with his other rivals. however, Rahm already bogeyed the 14th hole and then added another on the 16th. to say goodbye to any option to fight for the title.
Because Rahm started his bid for victory strong, with four birdies and just one bogey in the first thirteen holes. However, those bogeys on 14 and 16 stopped his options in their tracks and condemned him to fighting to stay in the top 10.
A good shot from the fairway left him with a good birdie option on the par four 1st hole which he didn’t miss. Not converting his options from then on, he broke the trend with a mid-range putt on the par four 6th that gave him his second birdie of the day. However, he failed on the approach at the 7th hole to sign bogey that nullified that advantage.
Rahm got back into contention for the tournament with two birdies over the next six holes, the par four 10th and the par five 13th, after saving a compromised option for par in between. So, he put himself at -12, tied with McDowell, Ortiz and Smith, two strokes behind Ancer. and waiting for the Mexican to open the door in the fight for victory.
Ancer did this, but it was no use to Rahm as his own blows closed his access to him. On the 14th hole he got short in search of the green, short in approach and long with the putt for par. With a long option not converted for birdie on the 15th, the final sentence for Jon came on the 16th hole, where he went into the bunker with his second shot and then made the final bogey that caused him to lose positions.
Casey and Smith took advantage of future options that Ancer gave them to get into contention for the tournament, although the Mexican added his first LIV Golf victory in the playoff. The team victory went to the Crushers GC of Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri.
Whoever intends to fight for the first positions and has not yet entered them has been Eugenio López-Chacarra. Although the Spaniard started the final round in second position, five shots behind Ancer, he suffered a lot in the final round which, with three birdies and a bogey, relegated him to a tie for fifteenth place.
They didn’t improve either David Puig and Sergio Garcia. Puig carded five birdies, a bogey and a double bogey in closing for a final -4 that left him thirty-four tied, while García saw how a double bogey on the 18th hole ruined his three birdies, in addition to a bogey, for a final -3 that left him tied for thirty-eight.
Final classification (par 70)
1. Abraham Ancer (Mexico) 197 (3 in tiebreaker; 63-62-72)
2. Paul Casey (England) 197 (5 in tiebreaker; 66-67-64)
2. Cameron Smith (Australia) 197 (5 in tiebreaker; 67-65-66)
4. Joaquín Niemann (Chile) 198 (67-68-63)
4. Carlos Ortiz (Mexico) 198 (68-64-66)
…
8. Jon Rahm (Spain) 200 (67-64-69)
15. Eugenio López-Chacarra (Spain) 201 (64-66-71)
34. David Puig (Spain) 206 (72-66-68)
38. Sergio García (Spain) 207 (71-66-70)
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.
