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Olympic Games / Golf.- (Analysis) Jon Rahm, looking for another top in the Games

06-10-2019 The Basque golfer Jon Rahm MUTUACTIVE SPORTS OPEN DE ESPAÑA

MADRID, 19 (EUROPA PRESS)

Basque golfer Jon Rahm heads the Spanish Olympic team for the Tokyo Games as number one in the world and one of the fittest players, after winning the US Open and being third at the British Open, inspiration for Adri Arnaus and the once again Olympians Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz.

At 26 years old, just six as a professional, Rahm is a machine to meet goals, achieve goals such as being number one in the world or winning his first ‘Grand Slam’. Now, being an Olympian is already an achievement in itself for Barrika’s, but gold seduces him as one of those achievements that very few can count, except in golf.

After golf enjoyed its Olympic status in the 1900 and 1904 editions, it took 112 years for its return to Rio de Janeiro. In Tokyo it still seems to stay, with a better bill than five years ago, when the casualties were important, due to the novelty, the calendar and another virus, Zika.

“I have had the fortune to represent Spain at all levels as an amateur since I was 13 years old. I have been able to win many team tournaments representing Spain around the world and once you turn professional you don’t have that opportunity,” said Rahm a week before the Games, at the ‘British’.

The Basque did not hesitate at any time, despite the tight schedule that has led him to cross the world in the last month, or the requirements of the covid protocol. Five years ago, it was Zika that was the unsavory guest that scared away many. “You can call yourself an Olympian, only a few in history can,” he added.

Rahm travels to Tokyo, to the Kasumigaseki Country Club, where the traditional ‘stroke play’ will be played (four days of 18 holes and champion the one that needs the fewest strokes) and ‘unknown’ for almost all the participants who will hardly be able to train in this scenario , with third place in the last ‘big’ of the season played at the Royal St. George’s. There he recovered the number one in the world, fighting for victory until the podium on Sunday. A month ago, the Basque was crowned at the US Open as a legend of Spanish golf and sport.

The one from Barrika will be accompanied by his friend Adri Arnaus, who will also represent Spain in the men’s individual tournament. The resignation of Sergio García and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, focused on the Ryder Cup and the PGA Tour, gave the alternative to Barcelona.

Arnaus hopes to seize the opportunity, even if it does not come with his best results. The number 161 in the world shone in the tournaments held in the Canary Islands in May, but he will have to do something more against the best, with the incentive of teaming up with Rahm, who has been friends with him since he was 13 years old.

The Catalan has the Basque as a mirror, although he does not manage to take off after a great debut as a professional in 2019, with three second places and another ‘Top 5’ in the Spanish Open that Rahm actually won. Among the favorites, the biggest absence will be that of Dustin Johnson, who stars in that fight with Rahm for the world rankings.

The defending champion Justin Rose will not be there either, but within the complexity of golf to make predictions, the recent champion of the ‘British’, Colin Morikawa, or the also Americans Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, in addition to figures like Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry or Francesco Molinari.

In the women’s tournament, Spain will be represented again, as in Rio 2016, by Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz. The Navarrese, national champion in all categories, has one victory in the LETAS Circuit, four in the Ladies European Tour, three in the LPGA and won the Solheim Cup with Europe in 2013 and 2019.

In the same way, Muñoz is a vital figure in those European triumphs, in addition to that of 2011. The Malaga-born has the 2009 Madrid Ladies Masters of the European Tour in her record, along with two victories across the pond, two successive victories at the Open de France (2013 and 2014) and two others at the Spanish Open (2016 and 2017), the first Spanish champion in history.

FILE.

–SEDE: Kasumigaseki Country Club.

–DATES: From July 29 to August 1 (men’s tournament) and from August 4 to 7 (women’s).

– SPANISH PARTICIPATION: Jon Rahm, Adri Arnaus, Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz.

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