The difference between very good players and legends is crystal clear on days like today. Jon Rahm transcends the rest. During the Spaniard’s third round, he stepped onto the 6th tee and reached into his bag for his driver. No sooner had he pulled the head-cover off than he realised he had broken it with his tee shot on the 5th. The rules state that a broken club can be fixed, but not replaced. He called a referee, handed him the club and cursed his bad luck for the umpteenth time this week. As the rules official left with Rahm’s driver, the player protested “that rule makes no sense and it needs to be changed now!”. What came next, at Club de Campo today from the 7th to 14th hole, when his ‘big dog’ would finally be returned in one piece, will go down in the history of the tournament.
Rahm had to resort to using his 3-wood to get his ball in play – a masterclass ensued. His second shot on the 7th was 112 yards longer than yesterday’s. 112! His advantage over the field had completely evaporated through pure misfortune. But Jon is Jon through and through. When faced with adversity, he bares his teeth. His next shot found the first bunker on the left, then began the fun. 58 yards from a bunker. Professional golfers would unanimously agree that it is the most difficult shot in this crazy game. Watch it if you get the chance, he left himself a kick-in birdie.
On the 8th, he coped with his new-found lack of distance with two routine putts for par, and on the 9th he did what he does every weekend in Madrid. From the tee he declared “well, at least it’s on the green”. It certainly was! On one of the busiest corners of the course, with hundreds of fans packing the bank outside the clubhouse, he regaled the Madrid public with a cliffhanger birdie. It fell into the hole on its last turn. The roar could be heard from the centre of the Spanish capital.
By the time he reached the 10th, he even seemed to be enjoying the situation. “I hit a fairway!”, he exclaimed. He smashed a 3-wood that I would pay to see every day for the rest of my life. This is where things got really interesting. He hit the club so well on the 10th and 12th tees that when he got his driver back, he decided not to use it on the 13th! Perhaps the golfing gods were rewarding his patience, but the fact is Rahm went on to pure, from 200 yards away, the best iron he has struck since he set foot in Madrid on Wednesday. He had now gone 3-under par for seven holes without a driver in his bag. Very few players would have survived the situation, Rahm, though, was emboldened by it. Birdies on the 16th and 18th holes rounded off a remarkable afternoon on which the Spanish fans fell in love with their hero all over again. 65 shots to finish at 11-under par. It was, given the circumstances, surely one of his best rounds in the Spanish capital.
Rahm will get up on Sunday ready to make history in Spain, to surpass the great Seve Ballesteros in Open de España titles, to appear in every paper lifting the trophy to the sky, and to keep growing Spanish golf to a heights never seen before. He is now only two shots behind the tournament’s surprise package Angel Hidalgo, and there are only 18 holes to go until the conclusion of the tournament. The Basque has been in situations like this thousands of times before, Hidalgo though, has never. Rahm has already said he won’t be offering his compatriot any advice. Any normal player would be quaking in their boots. If the Andalusian can lift the trophy tomorrow, he will not let the three-time champion forget about it any time soon. On the other hand, if Rahm wins, nobody will ever forget it. The best ACCIONA Open de España in history has the final it deserves – a legendary one.
