The ‘putt’ upsets the current champion, who will have to shine a lot, 8 strokes behind Frenchman Pavon
MADRID, 13 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Friday, the Spanish golfer Jon Rahm experienced an unfortunate second day at the Spanish Open, an event of the DP World Tour that is being held at the Villa de Madrid Country Club, unable to make a putt to find himself eight strokes behind the leader. , the Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, and 45th in the classification.
“Come on, brother,” Eriz told Jon when the world number three left the 18th green to sign his card of 72 strokes. The defending champion at the Spanish Open didn’t even look at him. His parents, present there, also did not dare to say anything to a champion who was injured, unfortunate and punished in equal parts.
The Masters champion did not have a good day, but a course that until now seemed like his private garden also played some tricks on him. Despite the mental wear and tear of the recent achievement of the Ryder Cup in Rome, Rahm still saw a comeback as feasible when he spoke to the press, hoping to improve and find some reward.
After a correct -4 on the first day, Rahm started with a bogey on the second. Without a doubt a bad sign, but no one could have expected that the three-time national Open champion would not be able to get back on his feet. The ‘putt’ did not want to enter the 4, 5, 6, 7, only ‘birdie’ touching the ‘eagle’ like on Thursday, 8 or 9. It seemed that at least it was getting closer but not enough and, on top of that, ‘ bogey’ on 11.
Then, the local idol, once again followed by hundreds of people, had to accelerate uncontrollably, invent with the danger of failing even more, with just enough patience knowing that the lead was -11. The Frenchman Pavon left him there in the morning, second last year when Rahm made the tournament record in total -25.
On the 12th hole he was heard saying, “I’m fed up with everything going wrong for me.” The bad advice of desperation led Barrika down an arduous path until he completed the worst streak without birdies in his five appearances at the Spanish Open. “I’m eight shots away, it can be cut easily,” Rahm said.
Despite having more than 40 players ahead of him, the Basque still has the mission of winning his fourth National Open and surpassing Severiano Ballesteros. In addition to a glorious weekend, of which he has already had several, the champion needs inspiration to come down from above. Pavon found it in his last holes to extend his lead to -11 with a -3 on the day.
Likewise, the Dutch Wil Besseling also remains ahead with -10, tied with the Indian Shubhankar Sharma. The fifth Open in a row for a Spaniard has the Asturian Alfredo García Heredia as the best positioned in the table, fourth with -9, after a tremendous -7, seven birdies without a mistake, ready to deal the blow to his usual fight in the patriotic tournament.
The good Spanish news also came from two people from Madrid, Alejandro del Rey, seven under par, and Gonzalo Fernández Castaño, -6 on the total on his 43rd birthday. Pablo Larrazábal, Adrián Otaegui and Santiago Tarrío can also arrive on Sunday with options if Saturday brings the movement desired by a fan that will undoubtedly grow in attendance.