There are few guarantees in the professional sports world. There are so many extraordinarily talented athletes, that predicting results with any amount of certainty is near impossible.
That is, except if you’re Jon Rahm and you’re playing in the Rolex Series, of course. The Spanish golfer’s stats are astounding in this mini-tour of the European Tour golf elite. The last tournament was the Scottish Open, held last week at the Renaissance Golf Club. Rahm finished in seventh place, fighting for the win up to the 70th hole. It was his first appearance to compete in Europe since October of 2019.
That seventh place at North Berwick marked the eighth consecutive top ten for Jon in the Rolex Series, and the tenth out of the eleven he’s competed in. The stats are exceptional and, for the moment, are not within reach of any other player. And of course, none other than four victories need to be added to those top tens, all time record, tied with Tyrrell Hatton. The difference is that Hatton played 21…practically double.
Jon was not far off from taking home the win in his debut in the Scottish Open. He was tournament leader after the second round, thanks to two spectacular rounds of 66 and 65 shots. On Saturday and Sunday, the putter went cold and, above all, he made a few errors on very short putts, which ended up costing him the tournament. It’s not easy to get accustomed to the links greens coming from the US, which is why the preparation for the Open Championship will be invaluable.
Jon made it to the 16th hole on Sunday with options to win, or at the very least to make it to the tie break. He wasn’t far at all. Three putts on the 16th hole ended up distancing him farther away from the victory. Afterward, he hit two shots on the 17th and 18th holes which were borderline excellent, but they were just on the limit, and the movement of the greens caused the ball to land farther from the hole. Be that as it may, the best news is that his game is now very well-oiled after the big win in the US Open. He hasn’t budged one millimeter in his level on the tee shots. The preparation for the British was good. Links mode is now activated.