Floods of people hurried to be present at 12:00 at the tee of hole 1 of the ‘Negro’ course of the Villa de Madrid Country Club. Races, overtaking and some push to applaud and immortalize, even if it was pulling zoom by the huge influx of spectators, the start of Jon Rahm (and the rest of the holes on the course), on the second round of the Acciona Open de España. The ‘León de Barrika’, the humble number one in the world who continues to see himself as the boy from the town that saw him born, is already a benchmark of Spanish sport and a cannibal in the field.
The Basque began his second round calmly and less precise than what is usual for him. He knows better than anyone that the third victory in this tournament will come, if it is achieved, on a regular basis. Add birdies without adding bogeys. Despite this, hole 2 was already defeated by the winner of the US Open 2021 in the first of the birdies that he would add to improve his sensational 63-goal card on the first day (-8). On the 6th the ball decided to hang on the balcony of the hole and Jon made a gesture of clear anger. That alteration perhaps affected him for a very bad start in the 7. Moments of anxiety that the great Spanish player solved with a prodigious third shot to finish the hole on par … although his face was not of satisfaction. The birdies cost but neither did bogeys.
The first part of the tour was closed by Rahm with a birdie at 9 to reach double digits under par. The second part was regular concatenating pairs without making the putt he was looking for until the explosion of the 14. Par 5 that Jon solved with a sensational eagle (repeating the one from the previous day) to change the serious rictus, clench his fist and bring madness to the fans again. The end of the day was twisted with the only lunar place as far as result of the day with bogey in the 16. The jubilation returned in the 18th when after an exit behind the electronic he ended with a birdie that left him second alone.
“I played well. The penalty has been a couple of pairs that I have shot with good line and speed but they have not entered. Today the fairways and greens rolled a little more and you have to be more accurate in each shot. From having a birdie option, you have to save the pair. I am not in the position that I would like because I would prefer to be the leader with five or six strokes of advantage but I am well placed for the weekend, “said Rahm.
Rahm is the flag of Spanish golf, but the second day of the Acciona Open de España showed again that this sport is in very good health in our country and they demonstrated it on the field: Adri Arnaus signed a fantastic 64 (-7) to get to -11, Rafa Cabrera Bello made 65 (-6) for a total of -10, Pablo Larrázabal is -9, Santiago Tarrío got up from a double bogey in the 1 to seal 68 shots after a great finish that leaves him with -8, The amateur David Puig had a splendid debut with 67 strokes (-4) which, added to his -3 from the opening day, places him with -7 passing the cut widely in his first tournament of great international level, or Gonzalo Fernández Castaño who with his -6 after two days can still think of a great final classification.