Jon Rahm finished the 2016 competition in eighth place in the World Cup. To put things into perspective, the results did not do justice to the Spanish duo’s performance. Rahm and Rafa Cabrera Bello stood out with flying colors throughout the entire week, they played a solid game of golf and just a few details, apart from the stratospheric performance by Denmark, kept them from being in the running for the victory.
Rafa and Rahm started out leading the tournament with a splendid first foursome round of 69 shots. Just one bogey on the card and four birdies bumped the Spanish golfers up to first place after a very tough day due to the intense wind that was blowing across the Kingston Heath Golf Club course in Melbourne.
The second day of four-ball, another good round, a few more birdies would have been nice, especially on the par 5s, in order to get a little bit closer to Denmark. Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen shot a historic 60, the lowest in the World Cup since it started in 1953. Spain, with 67, gave up some ground but was still in the fight.
On Saturday they played foursomes again, but faced with another difficult day. There wasn’t as much wind, but there were a few strong spells and playing long distances was tough. Rahm and Rafa survived with a 73 with room to maneuver on Sunday.
The last day, four ball again, 66 shots. A notable card, but insufficient in a day in which many birdies were made. The par 5s caused the Spanish golfers lose a lot of ground as well. In any case, Rahm and Rafa’s overall performance was quite remarkable.
Jon played with his good friend and colleague again from the University of Arizona, Ben Shur, as caddie. Rahm and Rafa worked well together and showed that they make a good, fearsome team every time they have the opportunity to play together, why not, for example, in the next Ryder Cup in France.
Jon’s next tournament will not be until 2017. He’ll start the year off with the Career Builder Challenge from January 19th to 22nd in California.