“It’s been a great week.” This is how Jon Rahm defined his performance at the 151st British Open this Sunday, after finishing second with -7 at Royal Liverpool, in what is his best performance to date at this big one.
“I’ve had a lot of birdie opportunities, some not close, and not all of them go. I still get -8 or -9 in the first nine and things change, but doing under par on a day like this is very good ”, he analyzed his last lap. “I don’t look at those things, you look at them,” he said of what is his 12th top-10 in 29 big contests. “The same in 20 years they matter more to me than now, but for now it is trying to win. The way the week has started is a great finish. Proud of my best performance in an Open ”, he assured.
After a somewhat gray month, the result “of fatigue more than anything else”, the Biscayan man is once again in top shape: “That shows on the field. It’s not to make excuses, but winning takes away a lot, that stress. I hadn’t recovered from Augusta and I could tell. These last few weeks I have felt just as good as there. Now I only have two weeks. This year we are a bit limited by what we can do.”
“When harman has been there has finished. He has a great short game and competitor’s grit. She has shown it. The last two days he was two over par the first four holes and he has recovered. An amazing week. I don’t know what I can say. The closest we’ve gotten has been three strokes. I am impressed”, he praised the champion.
“I don’t pay attention to who is fit. It’s been a good year for the Europeans, but the rest of the year it doesn’t matter when the Ryder arrives. On paper, the United States should be better, but we’ll see what happens. In any case, it is very positive that many of us are playing golf well”, he analyzed ahead of the appointment next September in Rome. “The goal was to win the Open, it couldn’t have been, and now I’m focused on the playoffs,” he said ahead of the final stretch of the season, that has the fight for the FedEx Cup (the first leg of the playoffs, St. Jude, from August 10 to 13) and the biennial Europe vs. United States as incentives. “I don’t have as much experience as others at Ryder, but if they want me to be a role model I will be. I’m not the most outgoing guy, but I’ll try to channel my inner Seve”, he finished.