When one equals the all-time low-par record on the PGA Tour, 33, and does not raise a title, there is hardly any other analysis than to understand that there was an exalted rival. Jon Rahm felt like this at the end of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, after giving up a blow to Cameron Smith, the Australian who ended up winning in Hawaii with the best record in history compared to the field’s par. He won his fourth PGA Tour title, his first without the need for a playoff. Jon was left as a consolation second place, 69 top 10 of his career and the preservation of the world number 1. He’s been going for 33 weeks now, overtaking Vijay Singh. He closed the last day with another 66 shots, without errors, with seven birdies. And against the 65 of Smith I did not work.
I went out on a radiant Sunday, without wind, enormous humidity, but Jon was without the fluid game of the three previous days. In his game, on the other hand, Smith was the rocky golfer who has made a name for himself. Of the five tournaments he had won between the PGA Tour and what is now called the DP World Tour, the former European, four have been won in the tiebreaker. He had two moments of inspiration with the iron on the 4th hole and a great putt on the 8th to open a two-stroke gap. Coupled with the two very easy par 5s, the Australian finished the first nine holes at four under par. Rahm, in just two. And thanks to a putt on the 9 of three and a half meters.
That blow changed the tournament. Because Rahm started kicking with more determination. He missed the birdie of 10 by two fingers, but in 11, a par 3 that required a precise shot holed one from four meters. And Smith and his ponytail were already only one. And, on the 13th, on another four-meter downhill putt he reached 30 under par. With another Australian, Matt Jones, at -28, looking for his chance.
The 14th, which was the simplest hole of the round, distributed two hits: Smith, 32; Rahm, 31. And Jones, ahead, was already 30 after two Eagles with three holes to go. It was clear that the tournament would be resolved by someone’s mistake or with a masterful blow.
A hit without reward
This occurred on the 15th, although I did not find the result. Barrika’s shot with the hybrid in a generous par 5 like all of The Plantation that stops the ball at three meters. It was an eagle’s option, to hunt down Smith and eliminate Jones, who finished with 61 strokes, equaling the field record, and a total of 32 under par, surpassing the record that Ernie Els had for this field since 2003. The Spanish ball appeared half a sphere in the pan, but twisted out. Smith, 33; Rahm, 32. With three holes to go, Cameron already matched Steve Stricker’s historic record at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic.
Rahm tried every hole, hit good putts, in a strip where one in four enters. He birdied down to the last hole. But it was insufficient to start the year with a victory, but not to confirm that the Basque has not lost the sensations that identify him as the most regular golfer in modern times.
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