Jon Rahm will return to Austin after competing in the WGC Dell Technologies with the memory of his outstanding performance there last year fresh on his mind, where he came in second after a passionate battle against the Number 1 in the world, Dustin Johnson.
Jon’s game is in great shape, as he proved last Saturday in an informal round with friends at the Canyon West Golf Club. The Spanish golfer went under 59 shots for the first time in his life. It’s nothing more than a practice round and shouldn’t be given more importance than that, but many golfers are never able to do that in their entire career and, above all, it’s an additional bout of confidence, which never hurts. Rahm was especially accurate with the putter, seeing as how he barley needed 19 on the 18 holes, and just one green with two putts, eleven birdies and an eagle.
Rahm met his rivals this Monday in the group phase. He’s been placed as the head of the series in the third, with Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Chez Reavie and Keegan Bradley. But there is a catch to this group. Aphibarnrat has won two match play tournaments in the European Tour, while Chez Reavie, who trained with Jon at Arizona State, is a very confident golfer who never misses shots, and Keegan Bradley has a lot of experience as the winner of a major, a WGC and participation in the Ryder and Presidents.
Jon will open up the Match Play against Bradley this Wednesday, he’ll play on Thursday with Reavie and Friday against the group with Aphibarnrat. First place is the only one that goes through, the one with the most points. The winner of one game gets a point and a tie is worth half a point. If Jon makes it to the round of 16, he’ll go up against the champion of Mickelson’s group, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Satoshi Kodaira and Charles Howell III.