Rahm, touched but not sunk in the Spanish Open: "Nothing is lost"
The effervescence of Thursday, where scenes of authentic popular fervor were experienced, was disrupted yesterday at the Madrid Country Club, where Jon Rahm did not perform at the expected level. The Barrika player's round over par made him close the second day of the Acciona Open of Spain with a disappointing card of 72 strokes (+1), which leaves him with -3 at the halfway point of the tournament. It was not in the plans of the Madrid fans that their great idol was almost lost in 45th place in the classification, eight strokes from the lead, owned by Matthieu Pavon. The Frenchman took advantage of the more favorable conditions of the morning session yesterday to leave a -11 in the clubhouse, coinciding with the largest outbreak of public on the tee of hole 1, where after two in the afternoon Rahm had his appointment yesterday with the second round of the tournament.
The first exit was deviated to the right, the graphic example of what he was going to find throughout his round.. Rahm hit only four fairways over 18 holes, where he sprinkled the course with missed putts from all lengths and drops.. Rarely have we seen the León de Barrika so wrong, although many of the putts were shot with sense. «Something like this had never happened to me in my life: making so many good putts and none of them going in.. The numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, etc. have hurt me.. Shots that seemed like they were going to go in, well thrown, but nothing…» assessed, visibly upset, the winner of the Augusta Masters.
A strange round with only one birdie and two bogeys, and that never finished starting despite the tireless encouragement of the public. Rahm looks touched, but not sunk and he looks impatiently at today's day. «I am eight shots behind the leader, but there is nothing lost. If I get close to -10 it could give me a chance, why not? Now what happened to me today could happen to someone else,” he concluded, before the Spanish press, hoping to find a “harder and more demanding” field conducive to a comeback.
“I'm playing well”
Alfredo García Heredia, a player who usually shines brightly at the Spanish Open, yesterday concentrated on what Rahm was unsuccessfully looking for: birdies.. The Asturian accumulated seven in total without failure to become the best lap of the day. An important boost to his chances of dreaming of something truly important on Sunday, at the moment from fourth place just two shots from the head. “Let's see what happens, because I'm playing well and I'm not ruling anything out,” said García Heredia, who on Thursday had competed with discomfort after a serious cut on his hand.. At -9, he is just one hit behind Wil Besseling and Shubhankar Sharma, and two from the aforementioned Pavon.
Likewise, the good Spanish news was completed thanks to two local players, Alejandro del Rey and Gonzalo Fernández Castaño. Del Rey, one of the big hitters on the circuit, finished seventh with -7. «Here in Madrid you always have to be on the fairway and hit the greens, which will get tough as the days go by.. The flags are demanding and getting them close from the rough is very complicated.
Meanwhile, Fernández-Castaño finished with -6, five under par on the day he celebrated his 43rd birthday. “The best gift he could give me,” admitted this veteran, looking for incentives to get back into a sport that gave him so much.. «Can you say that it was my best lap in years? Well possibly. At first I was very focused on being within the cut, but then I started to feel very comfortable on the field and I saw that I can be there giving me options on the weekend. “I think I have earned the right to dream,” Gonzalo closed. A happy man in Madrid.