On the day Severiano Ballesteros would have turned 66, Jon Rahm married the legend at the Augusta Masters. Four decades after the genius of Pedreña put on his second green jacket, the giant of Barrika put on his first. April 9 will always be the day of Spanish golf in the legendary tournament in the United States. On April 9, but in 2017, the triumph of Sergio GarcÃa had also arrived. Six years later Rahm took the test to join Seve, de Castelló and José MarÃa Olazábal, who was a two-time champion. With Biscay, which regains the number 1 in the world, there are now four Spaniards to be crowned in Augusta.
Rahm’s was a Herculean victory that came after a marathon day in which he had to complete 30 potholes. The third day could not be completed on Saturday, just as the second had not been able to be completed on Friday, for weather reasons, and Rahm proved to be the player with the most poise.
Successfully finding fairways and playing with surgical precision on the greens, he ate away at the ground on which the leader, the American Brooks Koepka, was going. In what was a battle between the two worlds of golf, that of the traditional PGA circuit, represented by Rahm, and that of the Saudi LIV league, launched by Koepka, the Spanish golfer came out victorious.
He came into play on the last course with a two-stroke disadvantage, but by the 6th hole he was already the leader and after the 8th he accumulated two strokes of income. Rahm had made two birdies and Koepka, nervous, had committed single bogeys, which would be three on the 9th hole. His putt was not working and he was showing anxiety. Although the Biscayan made his first bogey of the fourth round here. Behind Jordan Spieth and veteran Phil Mickelson were embroidering golf birdie after birdie but running out of holes.
There were nine holes left and we needed to stay in control. Barrika’s didn’t lose its firmness and Koepka couldn’t find the key, with the temptation to risk more than his account. The American made another mess (another bogey) on the 12th and was already three strokes behind Rahm. In fact, at that moment the second was Mickelson, who had already finished his round and was two strokes behind the Spaniard. Rahm made a couple more birdies on the 13th and 14th and the picture became completely clear. He prevailed with a final card of -12 followed by Mickelson and Koepka, both at -8. In this way, Rahm achieves his second major, after the US Open in 2021. At 28, he has a huge career ahead of him. How proud Seve would be right now.
