Heading into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, Jon Rahm was listed as the favourite to pick up a third consecutive PGA Tour title. The Spaniard is arguably the best player on the planet right now but, at Torrey Pines (opens in new tab) on Saturday, Rahm struggled, as a closing 74 put him into a tie for seventh and five shots back of eventual winner, Max Homa (opens in new tab).
Many individuals all but thought he would pick up another title, but were left bemused by a performance which we haven’t seen for a number of years. Even Rahm himself was left questioning the final round, stating “I really can’t tell you” in relation to how he was feeling after the two-over-par slog.
Rahm was looking for his fifth worldwide victory in just seven starts
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“I got a lot of bad breaks today,” explained Rahm, who would have moved into the World No.1 spot (opens in new tab) if he had won in California. “If I didn’t (put it) in the fairway, I got the worst possible lie in the rough. I’ve seen plenty of people all week go for the green. Anytime I was in the rough, I was just dead as could be.
“And not the kicker to the one on 18, for that ball to end up where it ended up. (I mean) It landed in the center of the bunker and released, stayed on the edge, basically plugged. Instead of having a wedge as my third shot, I had a 7-iron. I made a lot of bad breaks. I can guarantee you one thing, if you’re in the fairway, you don’t get bad breaks. Just have to play better.”
Despite the bad luck, the former US Open winner, who actually claimed the title at Torrey Pines in 2021, felt like his game was the best it had been all week, with the 28-year-old claiming “It was just — feel like I made a lot of good swings today. Today feels like the first day I made a lot of good swings, they just didn’t end up the way I wanted to.”
Rahm carded rounds of 73, 67, 66 and 74
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He went on to add: “One was a good swing, ends up long, two was a good swing, ends up short. On five, even the second shot out of the bunker wasn’t bad, if it just stays in the rough I have an up-and-down chance, hits the cart path and goes to a dead spot. I mean, I can keep going for many of them that weren’t bad swings.
“It’s golf. I battled as hard as I could and the only thing that could have saved me was maybe making a couple putts and I couldn’t do that early on to get momentum going, right? Either way I knew it would be a tough day. I knew a couple…
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