If everything goes to plan for Jon Rahm tomorrow and he wins Open de España, it would be a new milestone in his career as he has never successfully defended a title before as a professional. His dominance and creativity today, as he turned the leaderboard on its head to earn himself the biggest lead he has ever enjoyed on a Sunday, has made his task a whole lot easier.
Despite the potentially overwhelming list of records Rahm could break tomorrow, he was merely focused on playing solid golf. And solid it was; he finished eight shots under par for the day and signed for a 63 that equals the course record Severiano Ballesteros and Eduardo Romero set back in 1991, another achievement that will go down in the annals of the tournament and was possible thanks to a hole-out eagle on the 16th hole. The Spaniard’s pitch with a 52 degree wedge from 110 yards skidded to a halt behind the hole before gently rolling back into it. It is one of the shots he has been practising hard as he feels that it is something of an Achilles heel.
With so many records and stats at stake, the player from Barrika made one promise for Sunday: “I’ll try and play the best 18 holes I can play”.
