It is easy to think that with Jon Rahm leading by five shots going into Sunday’s round, the tournament is all but over, but we mustn’t forget that Jon has never teed it up on Sunday with more than a one shot lead and, also, he has a pack of players behind him that still have plenty to say for themselves at the Open de España.
Neither Samuel Del Val, Rafa Cabrera-Bello nor Adri Arnaus had their best days on the course in the third round, possibly due to nerves in the case of the players from Alicante and Barcelona, as they have rarely experienced rounds in front of such extensive galleries, or simply, in the case of the Canary Islander, because his elegant swing did not serve him as well as it had in the previous rounds.
The fact that the threeball following in the wake of Rahm’s excellence did not play as well as they had hoped does not mean that they are about to throw in the towel or change strategy for their final rounds, as all three of them are well aware that this is golf, every day throws up surprises and nobody can guarantee that one of them will not produce the goods to take advantage of a possible poor round from the world number 5.
The three players will start Sunday with very different goals, although the neediest of the three is clearly Del Val. At the moment he has no playing privileges on any of the world’s main tours, and is planning to play in the second stages of qualifying school at the end of October, unless he can finish this 2019 Open de España by lifting the trophy, something that would change his life completely, setting him up for the next 24 months.
In the case of Adri Arnaus, his first season among the elite has been extraordinary, although he is yet to produce a victory. He has come close with several second-place finishes and he will be hoping to go one better on Sunday. He has already achieved far more than he set out to this year, having played in two majors and broken into the world’s top 100, and everything would indicate that he will be playing in the final of the Race to Dubai, so a victory here would be the jewel in the crown of a spectacular season.
And Rafa Cabrera is bidding to remove the thorn left in his side by last year’s tournament as he seeks to equal Sergio García and Jon Rahm, both of whom have an Open de España trophy in their cabinet.
There is only one thing we can be sure about tomorrow and that is that we are going to enjoy some attacking golf, as those snapping at Rahm’s heels have very little to lose and an awful lot to gain.
