Jimmy Walker took control on Friday at Hilton Head Islands (South Carolina). Already 22nd at the Valero Open a fortnight ago, the American first played the last two holes of his initial round in the morning before drawing a new 65 in stride to gain a margin over the competition (-12).
On the two rounds, the same record (7 birdies, 1 bogey). What to revive after a turbulent period: “It’s great, for sure, to be at this score after two laps. But when you play badly, golf is so hard, you put so much pressure on yourself. And finally, when you play well, it’s not so easy to appreciate it because you put pressure on yourself to know if it will last. Only, as soon as the first round was over, I said to myself: okay, that’s fine, enjoy, stay focused on the game, on the desire to hit the ball well, on the need to reproduce what you’ve worked on, on what you know how to do. » For now, it’s working.
Jon Rahm recovers
If the leader was not at the Masters last week, many players from this RBC Heritage arrive straight from Augusta. This is particularly the case of Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler (-9), who currently share second place. Leader of the first round, and in verve at the Masters, Viktor Hovland is in their wake (-8), along with Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Mark Hubbard and Aaron Rai, the latter two not having qualified for the Masters.
Jon Rahm was crowned at Augusta. Exhausted, the Spaniard struggled to follow up (+1 on the first lap). The awakening was brutal: 64, best card of the day and a crazy comeback (18th at -6). Here it is relaunched: “I got off to a good start and took the opportunities on the holes, not easy, but let’s say affordable. With everything I’ve been through in Augusta, I knew this week would be a little different for me, that I would need some time to get into the rhythm. On this second round, my body reacted well, not yet completely as I would like, but it reacted well.. And as the head goes, the Spanish champion slipped on the course. And it’s a safe bet that it’s not over…
