Rahm's Back Nine

[8milespast]

Let's get to the action after the now-#1 plays 63 of arguably the best golf holes ever played given the conditions.

10 - Blocks his three-wood in a stiff wind and heavy downpour and nearly snaps the club in half. Sensibly chips out and taps in for the bogey.

11 - Still in a downpour and with a seven-shot lead, inexplicably pulls driver, double-crosses it into the creek, and slams the club down so hard it almost breaks. With a seven-shot lead. With about 335 left to the hole, lays up with a gap wedge instead of easily hooking one around the trees to get within 9-iron/PW range. Leaves himself 206, fans one right, three puts for double.

12 - Now with a five-shot lead, fires directly at the sucker pin on the edge of the lake at stiffs it to 10 feet. Misses the putt, begins to approach full-Spieth b!tch mode

13 - From 130 out of the rough, gets a bad hop on the green and ends up about 75 feet from the hole. Blames the "edge of the green," with 100% certainty. Now at DEFCON 2, dangerously close to Spieth territory.

14 - From the middle of the fairway and about 120 out, overshoots green and short-sides himself into a bunker. Took at least a club and a half more than he should have, later characterizes shot as "just a fraction off" (which, with the correct club given the lead and situation, would have had him on the left portion of the green/fringe about 40 feet away). Blasts out, and the blasts the five-footer about four-feet by. DEFCON 1 reached.

15- After a decent drive (somehow getting out-driven by Palmer now, maybe it was the broken driver, or just the burgeoning Spieth energy), blocks the second right and (again) long, this time by about two clubs. Chips into the rough on the 3rd. Mercifully gets up-and-down for the par.

16 - Now leading by 4, with a pin virtually inaccessible given position, green condition, weather, and about 45 other factors, decides to pull the club that the hopes to land flag-high. Aims straight at the pin. Is (predictably) long again, for the fourth time in four holes. On chip, moves ball, gets two-stroke penalty, and miraculously holes out for the 4. Lead now down to two.

17 - Again blocks three-wood right, long into the bunker despite the downwind/downhill/short-ish par-4/super fast fairway combo. Approach to middle of green ends long. Gets up and down for par.

18 - With what he believes in a five-shot lead and the tournament comfortably in hand, plays sensibly, makes par.

 

Man, I don't think this got enough attention. This was Van de Velde-level course management out there. Imagine this happened in a major and his lead were 4 or 5 instead of 8?

[ingy]

now do Tony Finau's final round

 

[ray9898]

Strange thread.....

[LifeStory]

Yeah, if his lead hadnt of been so juicy, he probably would have blew it playing like that on the back. If palmer had even some semblance of a decent day then it could have been palmer on top easily. Rahm choked but still won because of that fat cushion. Not an ideal way to get it done but he still got it done none the less.

[widow-maker]

Every other player in the field struggled with the course set up. If you want to get on him for losing his temper... fine. But his course management was in line with all of the other competitors. It was brutal for scoring and if you were a fraction off you paid the price. His precision was off but his choices weren't that bad. When he got in trouble he took his medicine. You could go through just about any of those chasing and come to similar conclusions about why they shot what they did. Matthew Fitzpatrick was the only player amongst the leaders who shot less than 72.

[Smada962]

It was impressive, but "arguably the best golf holes ever played given the conditions" is major hyperbole. Calm down just a little bit wit that.

[smashdn]

Playing with a lead is a skill. You either ignore the score and keep playing the way that got you there or you play safe. Some guys can't play safe. I get the impression that Rahm has trouble playing safe or taking the safer play.

 

I too want to better understand Finau's round(s).

[8milespast]

Every other player in the field was firing at flags and taking on hazards off the tee with an 8-shot lead in the last 9 holes?

[Hattie Pants]

I forget, who won the tournament again?

[MattyO1984]

“Imagine this happened in a major and his lead were 4 or 5 instead of 8”

 

Then he would have still won. His strategy got him to where he was. Why change it when up by 8 with 9 holes to go? Who is to say that if he had started playing hyper conservative that he wouldn’t have started dropping shots? He won. End of story.