Jon Rahm: “I still hadn’t recovered from Augusta”

Jon Rahm closed with the last shot of the tournament his best result in a British Open, second, and thus rounded off his 12th ranking among the top 10 in a major. The Augusta Masters continues to be his most fruitful place, with five top ten, for all three at the US Open and two at the PGA and British. “It’s been a great week finishing second with that putt”, explained the runner-up; “I have created many opportunities for birdie but not close, six, seven or eight meters”.

Rahm landed in Liverpool after three weeks without competing, a break he needed to recharge his batteries. “The bad playing of the last month was more related to fatigue than anything else, the three weeks off have been incredible for me, it shows. Winning takes away a lot, due to stress, and I had not recovered after Augusta and I felt it physically”, commented Rahm, who this year has four victories: Sentry, American Express, Genesis and Masters. In the big ones, the Basque has been first in Augusta, 50th in the PGA, tenth in the US Open and second in the British Open.

For the British he will continue to fight to join Seve. Ballesteros was second in 1976 at Royal Birkdale before winning three years later at Royal Lytham. His last Open was played precisely at Royal Liverpool, in 2006, with his son Javier as his caddy.

Rahm said goodbye with a compliment to Harman: “The times he has been there to win, he has finished off. He has a very good short game and was playing very well. He has the competitor’s claw, something extra that pushes him when he’s up, like Patrick Reed, and around the green you can tell the difference. His week has been incredible, we have only been able to get within three strokes, I am very impressed”.

Final classification of the British Open.

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