2023-08-25 00:16:35
Jon Rahm began a true obstacle course this Thursday at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the best golfer of the season on the American circuit is decided. In this final you compete, from the beginning, in different conditions. Barrika’s man started from fourth position, the same one he occupies in the FedEx Cup ranking, the American PGA tournament group, after losing the lead last week at the BMW in Chicago. The competition system calls for FedEx’s first-place finisher, in this case Scottie Scheffler, to start at 10-under in Atlanta, second (Viktor Hovland) under 8, third (Rory McIlroy) under 7, and the fourth (Rahm) with minus 6.
This special starting grid forced Rahm to stage a comeback until Sunday to triumph in the Tour Championship and take home a fabulous bag of 16.3 million euros. The Augusta champion had in his favor that on the East Lake course (par 70) he has obtained good results in previous performances: seventh in 2017, fourth in 2020 or second in 2021, plus the fantastic round of 63 shots from the last edition. .
69 hits
(one under par) used by Rahm yesterday to complete the course at East Lake
Although the gap had to be closed as soon as possible, Rahm stumbled on the second hole, the first of the four par-3s on the course. Unexpectedly, he missed the putt from less than four feet. MacIlroy also bogeyed in this stretch, but Scheffler then scored the first of his birdies.
Prospects changed on hole 3 with a 4.6-meter putt that was worth a birdie. The Biscayan liked himself at the next flag, where he brushed a birdie at 6, where the eagle escaped from just over 2 meters. He did not repeat birdie at 7 by a span, but he did at 8 with an impeccable shot. Rahm got -8 and enjoyed.
He started the second half of the lap with good feelings. Great shots and another birdie chance. The positive trend disappeared on the 13th, where a wildly wide tee followed with a shot past the green. Second bogey of the day and end of a promising period. Rahm returned to his starting -6 with another bogey caused by two consecutive entries into the sandbanks. The drama grew with new ballast picked up on the iconic 15th hole, the island green at East Lake.
final recovery
The last three flags were a lifeline for the Basque. He birdied 17 and 18 (par 5) to stay close to the lead. On a day without Scheffler or McIlroy in a state of grace, BMW winner Hovland showed that he’s still on a roll. Collin Morikawa and his 61 strokes, one more than the course record, signed by Zach Johnson in 2007, aspire to the title, in addition to Keegan Bradley and Adam Schenk (-7 in the first round).
Classification
1. Viktor Hovland -10
Collin Morikawa -10
Keegan Bradley -10
4. Scottie Scheffler -9
5. Russell Henley -8
Adam Schenk -8
7. Jon Rahm -7
Rory McIlroy -7
#Rahm #reacts #time #Atlanta