Miami serves as a stop for Jon Rahm before embarking on his defense of the throne in Augusta next Thursday. The Trump National Doral course is different from the stage of the first ‘major’ of the season, but it is a demanding test due to the characteristics of its obstacles and fairways, in addition to the high level of the competitors. Up to six Masters winners play this weekend in Miami: Charl Schwartzel (2011), Bubba Watson (2012, 2014), Sergio García (2017), Patrick Reed (2018) and Dustin Johnson (2020), Phil Mickelson (2004) and Rahm himself (2024). The last three have shared a game on the first day in Doral.
The Biscayan already said before starting the fifth round of LIV Golf that the Florida course seemed to him “a challenging, high-quality golf course before a ‘major’ can be good… I have a lot of confidence now and I have the same confidence in my game practically any day of the year. I’m comfortable”.
And it was noticeable from the beginning in Miami that he is satisfied with his game. On a windy day, common in that area of Florida, Rahm made the first birdie on his second hole thanks to a great second shot. On the next stage (hole 4, par 3), he avoided the penalty, which was a laudable goal in difficult circumstances. He repeated birdie next after moving perfectly off the tee. The one from Barrika drew on the 8th hole one of the brightest smiles that can be remembered in the middle of the competition. He had to take advantage of the first par 5 and he did it with conviction and a stroke of luck. He went out into the rough and flew over several traps to stay on the edge of a crater. He shot at the flag and hit it! He has joy on his face and an eagle in his backpack. Rahm was then the sole leader with four strokes under par.
Stumble and reaction
But the joy turned to bitterness very soon, on the 10th, a par 5 that this time had a fall into the water that cost him a double bogey. A bad start was followed by poor game development. There was no other solution than to forget the pothole. Back to -2 and fourth in the provisional classification. Although the pendulum of emotions was activated yesterday in the streets of Blue Monster and on the 12th (par 5) the best version of the Basque reappeared to add another success (total of -3).
In the last section the roller coaster did not stop working. A tie on the fifteenth flag (par 3) meant another bogey for the Biscayan, who however recovered in the next station with a birdie despite having landed in a bunker. He was able to nail his performance on 18, a fearsome hole on the American circuit, but the birdie escaped in an incredible way. Also on the final hole, another par 5, without the wind the ball would not have been blown away from the hole. Today we will have to fight hard.
2024-04-05 22:27:56
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