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Jon Rahm: “It is less risky to be here than at home”

He came back from inactivity with more rust than he thought. His game, without being lacking, He fell short of spark in the three tournaments he played in a row. Jon Rahm did not pass the cut in the Charles Schwab, he was ranked 33 in the Heritage and 37 in the Travelers. The balance leaves him in the low results zone among the players in the world Top 50 who shared that calendar. Two weeks on vacation before heading back to the charge at The Memorial hosted by legend Jack Nicklaus. But the break has been halved by own decision forced by events. So today he is cited on the Muirfield Village 10 tee with Viktor Hovland and Gary Woodland to debut in the new Workday Charity Open that has occupied the vacant place left by John Deere.

The day after returning from Connecticut, Rahm found himself in Scottsdale, his hometown on the outskirts of Phoenix, with a troubling outlook. The Covid-19 pandemic remains out of control, again with alerts advising the confinement of citizens. There are many closed fields and in the middle of summer, the air is as unbreathable as in the neighboring desert of Sonora. “With the situation in Arizona, with coronavirus cases rising, very hot in summer, many fields closed and those that are open are in works and arrangements, it gave me the feeling that it is less risky to be here than at home. I only go from home to the country and do not deal with anyone. The risk is much lower, “he said yesterday at a tournament press conference.

Ryder Cup postponement confirmed

The rumor was two weeks ahead of confirmation. There will definitely be no 43rd edition of the Ryder Cup in September at Whistling Straits (Kohler, Wisconsin), being postponed for exactly one year, to be held from the 21st to the 26th of the same month and on the same field in 2021. This change also makes it happen. to the Presidents Cup – United States vs. Rest of the World except for Europe – which is delayed to 2022 at Quail Hollow (Charlotte, North Carolina). The decision, described by Rahm as “the smartest”, is due to the impossibility that it could be followed in situ by the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the options he considered to avoid being inactive this week was moving to California. But there were a series of circumstances that encouraged him to return to the competition. Workday, sponsor of the Ohio event, sponsors Phil Mickelson, who in turn shares a representation agency –Lagardère– with the Biscayan, practically practicing as a mentor with him at the beginning. He finished convincing him that this is the same field where The Memorial will play next week, although with a very different presentation – distance of tees, height of roughs and speed of greens -. «Jack (Nicklaus) wants firm and fast greens for his tournament in which it will be necessary to be more precise without taking many risks. I would not be surprised if there were more than five strokes difference between the winners of this week and the next ”, he added.

As world number 2 and absent Rory McIlroy, Rahm tops the event’s planetary ranking, but has been relegated to the second stellar game of his run in favor of the Thomas-Koepka-Day shortlist. Today he will start playing at 13.34 (Spanish time) and tomorrow he is scheduled for the afternoon, at 18.59. Both laps will be detailed blow by blow in the live show offered by elcorreo.com.

A vague negative memory in search of the planetary throne

“It is not an especially demanding field from the tee, but it is in the approach.” This is how Rahm defines a Muirfield Village in which he only accumulates 36 previous holes. He played The Memorial in June 2017 with virtually no pause since the Masters. The cut did not pass, but that does not prevent him from defining the route as a “pitch”, very much to his liking. He will once again choose to be crowned number 1 in the world, but his second planetary position will also be in danger. In addition, he chooses to continue as the second player who has 50 percent of Top10 in his tournaments valid for the world ranking, a mark only improved by Tiger Woods, as highlighted by a statistic prepared by TenGolf.

The course takes its name from Muirfield for being the Scottish town where Nicklaus won his first The Open in 1966. The design is his work – he has signed more than 400 tours in 45 countries – and stands out for being one of the two stages, together The Greenbrier, which have hosted the Ryder Cup and Solheim (female version). A select private club in Dublin (Ohio) that has modified its ‘course’ with 60 more meters due to the position of the tee boxes and the presence of new street bunkers in six holes. It is a par 72 that includes 74 sand traps and 13 water traps. In the same vein as Rahm, Justin Thomas – who plays as close to his Louisville home as he can – defines the Nicklaus-designed courses as “second shot.” In rehearsals Rahm shared a half lap with Mickelson and Steele.

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