There was a lot of uncertainty about the state in which Jon Rahm would reappear after the longest preseason of his career, nearly four months in … those who have worked piecework. During this time he has adjusted his game, those tweaks to his swing that caused him so many headaches last season, and tried some new clubs with which he appeared in Riyadh this Wednesday. Given what we have seen, the winter has been satisfactory for the Biscayan. The defender of the ring began the path to his third consecutive crown in the LIV Golf with a solid day under the lights of the Saudi city, host again of the staging of a groundbreaking league that is now less so. Now it is played in four rounds, although without a cut, and receives points from the world ranking.
After the first 18 holes, Rahm is fourth thanks to a card of five birdies and no mistakes, a consistent game that allows him to show his candidacy for the title, which would be his first since August 2024, not counting the Ryder last September, an achievement that, in addition to the double crown in the LIV, served to close a year in which the ‘Lion of Barrika’ achieved a notable success. But he wants to win individually again and Riad has shown his face. His -5 is shared by five other players and is only surpassed by debutant Elvis Smylie (-6), Peter Uihlein (-7) and Thomas Detry (-7), another who was making his debut on the circuit.
An example of Rahm’s efficient performance, 67 strokes, was that in only two holes he did not have a birdie putt. He found one green after another, although in many of them, perhaps too many, the shots with the irons did not give him very clear options. In those instances he demonstrated a serenity like few others to allow himself to be given the majority of peers. He hit ‘cigaritos’ from more than twenty meters, but made one from six on the 2nd hole. It was his first reduction of the day. The next one came at the fourth flag, another par 4, after one of the few masterful touches with the irons.
Another of them came on the only par 5 he took advantage of, on the 13th hole, the last of the four at a Riyadh Golf Club that was tame under the cool night in the desert. There he even kicked for eagle, but the ball caressed the hole and he decided to continue his course. In general, the Biscayan read the greens very well, some as long as those of Augusta, although less demanding than those of the cathedral of golf.
We said that there were only two occasions in which Rahm did not have a birdie option. However, in both he rolled up his sleeves to avoid greater evils and knew how to get out of some difficult situations. First on the par-4 eighth challenge, when a horrible shot from the fairway went so wide it went into the bunker. From the sand the ‘Lion of Barrika’ gently caressed her to give her peace of mind and breathe. The 14th hole, a par 3 of 166 meters, had similar difficulty. Rahm went too far and the ball landed on dense rough that promised fine hands. He had the chance to make a high-quality save again.
He almost scored from the street
That action came after two consecutive birdies that allowed him to comfortably settle into the positions of honor. The last one came at the end, on a short par 4, 362 meters, in which the Biscayan took a risk and gave a bomb that left him at the gates of the green. Then, from the fairway, he was very close to holing out to be just one shot away from the lead and into the main game. The captain of the XIII Legion, four strokes behind Joaquín Niemann’s Torque, will go out on Thursday (4:15 p.m.) on the prowl.
The other Spaniards share a team in the Fireballs and had very different experiences. The captain from Castellón, Sergio García, remains in the top-10 with -4, the Catalan David Puig is with -3, Josele Ballester, also from Castellón, appears with -1 and the Madrid-born Luis Masaveu is last with +3.
Rahm’s card
Hole Par Strokes Balance
1) 4 calle-green-2 putts BY BY
2) 4 rough-green-putt BIRDIE -1
3) 5 calle-búnker-green-2 putts PAR -1
4) 4 anterough-green-putt BIRDIE -2
5) 3 green-2 putts PAR -2
6) 5 rough-calle-green-2 putts PAR -2
7) 3 green-2 putts PAR -2
8) 4 calle-búnker-green-putt PAR -2
9) 4 calle-green-2 putts PAR -2
10) 5 calle-calle-green-2 putts PAR -2
11) 4 calle-green-2 putts PAR -2
12) 4 anterough-green-putt BIRDIE -3
13) 5 calle-green-2 putts BIRDIE -4
14) 3 rough-green-putt PAR -4
15) 4 calle-green-2 putts PAR -4
16) 4 anterough-green-2 putts PAR -4
17) 3 green-green-putt PAR -4
18) 4 calle-green-putt BIRDIE -5
