Jon Rahm was not able to win the Open de France, but he came very close. In fact, he made it to the 18th hole with the option to force the tie.
The golfer from Barrika started out one shot away from the leader, Alex Noren, who was already at the clubhouse, and went all in for the birdie. The drive was almost perfect, but he it ended up in the water to the left by just half a meter.
Rahm finished off an excellent week in Paris, on the same stage that will host the Ryder Cup in September. He showed that he knows how to deal with the Golf National, and that he has a lot to contribute to the European team in the big competition against the US. Last year, he finished in tenth place in this same tournament, and this year he placed fifth, high up in the rankings from start to finish.
The key to the last round was on the 12th hole. Up to that moment, Rahm had the perfect round. He was in a whirlwind race to the victory. However, he missed the initial drive. The click of a camera on the downward motion of his swing made him bring his head up, sending the ball to the deep rough on the right. From there, with an almost unplayable ball, he needed three shots to recover. He ended up with a definitive triple bogey.
Jon’s disappointment at the end of the tournament was evident. “It hurts a lot more when the error comes from outside, when it’s something that isn’t your fault and that you can’t control. It’s much more difficult to get that out of your head. Even so, I think I came back okay, and it was a shame to not have known that he was going to win with a -7, because I may have played differently”, he remarks.
Be that as it may, Rahm’s brilliance and talent stood out once again in the Rolex Series tournament, proving to Thomas Bjorn that he is more than prepared for the grand Ryder Cup battle.