Jon Rahm suffers and Otaegui enjoys on the first day of the British Open

2023-07-20 22:59:31

The first day of the British Open was a suffering for Jon Rahm and a pleasure for Adrián Otaegui, who signed a magnificent return (-4) to a single blow from the leaders. It is the best start of a Spaniard in The Open since 2014, although the one from San Sebastián did not want to exaggerate too much. «A round like that is cool in any tournament. The key is to take streets, even sacrificing some distance. And that’s what I’ve done”, confessed Otaegui, much more satisfied than Jon Rahm, who finished with +3 and the feeling that he hadn’t played so badly for such a result. «There have been some good hits, but those that have not gone well have gone to bad places. I think I have played well, the result hurts me because of how well I have hit the ball », he said as soon as he finished his round. «I have hit many good irons, several in which I have been less than a meter from having good birdie options, and then the 15 and 16 meter putts and they are shots that hurt. If I put those two in, who knows. I’ve made enough putts, but I would have liked some more to go in. There is still a lot left, if it rains over the weekend… Tomorrow morning we have to take advantage of the good conditions,” he continued somewhat annoyed. “There have been two bad putts and not taking advantage of the par five, it is not an easy course,” he summarized before going to rest and think about the second day.

Rahm will have to row after a card of 74 strokes at the Royal Liverpool Club that places him far from the top of the table led by South African Christo Lamprecht, British Tommy Fleetwood and Argentine Emiliano Grillo. Jon got stuck early in the round heading out to the first hole with a pitch into the tall grass that he later amended.

The first six holes were all even, with some compromised moments, especially in the tee shots that he was able to correct, but the seventh ended with a bogey that gave him +1. The eighth and ninth were also even and it was not until the tenth that he was able to birdie, which began the worst moments of play on the course, reaching three more bogeys (holes 12, 16 and 18), which forced him to come back.

Pablo Larrazabal, for his part, was also not happy with his card of one shot above par, one impact less than Josele Ballester (+2), who made his debut at the British Open at just 19 years old.