Brandel Chamblee labelled Jon Rahm’s disappointing back-nine at the Olympics as “one of the biggest chokes of the year” after the Spaniard shot 39 to miss out on a medal at Paris 2024.
Overnight co-leader Rahm – who had carded five birdies in his opening nine holes to go out in 31 – was ahead by four strokes around the turn at Le Golf National and appeared destined to bring home gold for his country.
However, despite a sixth birdie on 10, the recent winner of LIV Golf UK chained consecutive bogeys together to give the chasing pack hope. Hope was quickly transformed into a clear opportunity just two holes later after Rahm made a real mess of the par-5 14th and ended with a double bogey.
By that point, eventual medallists Scottie Scheffler (gold -19), Tommy Fleetwood (silver -18), and Hideki Matsuyama (bronze -17) had all moved past – leaving Rahm to simply try and halt the sliding momentum.
In the end, he came up two strokes short of a medal and finished in a tie for fifth alongside Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. Analysing the action later in the day for Golf Channel’s ‘Golf Central’, Chamblee compared the two Europeans’ most painful Sundays of 2024 – referencing McIlroy’s performance when finishing second to Bryson DeChambeau at the US Open.
“I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.” —Brandel on Jon Rahm’s back-nine 39 Not wrong ! pic.twitter.com/6iMBuZtA3iAugust 4, 2024
Chamblee said: “That was just about the wildest back nine that you could ever imagine, ever predict. Jon Rahm with a four-shot lead in the gold position, Scottie Scheffler making the turn six back from the gold position, and wins gold, without a playoff.
“One shoots 29, John Rahm shoots 39. I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the US Open.”
While McIlroy’s US Open failure was predominantly caused by putting issues at the sharp end of the tournament, Chamblee pointed out that Rahm had been managing his game superbly until his problem with double-crossing long-range shots reared its ugly head at the worst possible time.
Chamblee continued: “Jon Rahm looked so solid the first three-and-a-half rounds, leading the field in fairways hit,…
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