Jon Rahm cleared up many doubts in the Open de Francia. Solid performance by the Barrika native in his first appearance in Europe in 2017. Four rounds without losing the battle against the complicated Albatros Course at Le Golf National, finishing in tenth place in the end.
Rahm shot a 70 in the first round of the second event of the season of the Rolex Series. He wasn’t very on point off the tee, but he managed to fall back on his short game, which lead him to win the battle.
He set goals for himself for the following days to come. He knew he needed to catch more fairways in order to continue in the fight. The rough on the French course wasn’t as demanding as in previous years, but it continued to do damage nonetheless.
He shot a 69 on Friday and a 71 on Saturday and survived, despite the fact that the driver kept veering off to the right. His putt was on fire once again, just like old times, and created a remote option for the win on the last 18 holes. He did need to lay low, however, literally. Sunday was the best day from tee to green. His drive worked like a charm, but the putt, on the other hand, not terrible but nothing extraordinary. He shot a 69 in the end, a good round, although it could have been much better.
Be that as it may, without altering the core version of his game, he was able to stay in the fight throughout the entire week and finished with a dignified top ten. It’s the sixth tournament he’s played in the European Tour and in three of them, he’s landed a spot in the top ten.
Thus, the best synopsis of the week is that Jon straightened out his game off the tee, a problem which cost him quite a bit in the Memorial Tournament and in the US Open, the two previous tournaments to the Open de France in which he did not make the cut.
This top ten on French terrain, site where the Ryder Cup will be held next year, will allow him to maintain eleventh place in the world rankings and to move up in the Race to Dubai. He’s currently in third place, precisely, after Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio García.
With his confidence back and convinced that “we changed the dynamic”, Rahm will continue to play another week in Europe. Specifically, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by the Rory McIlroy Foundation. The tournament will be held on the Portstewart Golf Club course, in Northern Ireland.