Jon Rahm says goodbye to victory in Madrid after a day full of errors

MADRID. – Spanish golfer Jon Rahm lost his chance to win his fourth Spanish Open title after a lackluster performance this Saturday in the third round, in which he admitted to having made “stupid mistakes” that prevented him from advancing in the overall standings.

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Before an enthusiastic audience at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, who never stopped cheering him on with the classic “¡Vamos, Jon!”, the Basque signed a card of 71 strokes (course par) to place himself with an accumulated score of -4, far from the leaders of the tournament.

“I’ve made stupid mistakes all week. Let’s see if tomorrow I can play 18 solid and flawless holes,” Rahm admitted after finishing his round, lamenting that “when things don’t go well, it hurts even more.”

The “Lion of Barrika” started the day five strokes behind the leader —then in the hands of the Englishman Marco Penge— and with hopes of fighting for the title. A bad start with ‘bogey’ on hole 1 was compensated with a spectacular ‘eagle’ on the 4 and three consecutive ‘birdies’ from 6 to 8, which temporarily catapulted him to the top of the table. However, a new ‘bogey’ on the 5th and his first double ‘bogey’ of the tournament on the 11th dashed his aspirations. Rahm showed his frustration with an angry gesture after that hole, and explained that the course “was very complicated, with hard and small ‘greens’” that punished any imprecision. The player also pointed out that the terrain is still suffering the consequences of the Filomena storm (2021):

“Since then the field has had to recover. It’s easy to say that we have to improve, but after such a harsh storm it’s complicated.”

Before speaking to the media, Rahm starred in an emotional moment by hugging his son Kepa, four years old, who was waiting for him on the 18th hole. The Spanish Open will continue this Sunday with the final round, where Rahm will seek to close with a solid performance in front of his audience, although without options to lift the trophy.