Rahm shows class to hit the front at Bay Hill
Jon Rahm tees off on the third hole during the third round at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Robert Beck/USGA)
Jon Rahm threw down the gauntlet to his Masters rivals when he finished eagle-birdie-birdie and carded a seven-under 65 with his B game to lead the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Seeking his sixth win in his last 10 starts, the world number one admitted he was not firing on all cylinders as he made an eagle, six birdies and just one bogey to lead by two shots from Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk, last year's Open Championship runner-up Cameron Young and big-hitting Kurt Kitayama.
On a day when Seamus Power and Shane Lowry signed for level par 72s to share 50th place and Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy had their share of struggles in carding 73s to lie just outside the projected cut mark, Rahm looked in ominous form just five weeks before the Masters.
He birdied the first three holes, dropped his only shot of the day at the eighth after missing the green, but then followed a birdie four at the 12th with a 35-foot par saver at the 15th before producing a grandstand finish.
"I think the only difference between some of my rounds last year and this one was just putting," said Rahm, who finished seven strokes behind Scottie Scheffler at Bay Hill last year. "I don't think in four days I made a single putt out here. And I made my fair share today. I've been putting a lot better this year. But from good putting to bad putting is the smallest difference imaginable. Especially on these greens. These greens can get difficult very quick."
Scheffler is in an eight-man logjam for fifth with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, just three behind Rahm after a 68.
But while the Basque felt he was better over the first three holes than the last three, he looked a class apart as he eagled the 16th from 24 feet, ripped his tee shot to two and a half feet at the 214-yard 17th and then left brushed in a six-footer for birdie at the last.
"I mean, I can't believe I'm saying this, but if I'm going to be as picky as possible," Rahm said. "I struck it and hit better quality shots on the first three, but that's just being nitpicky. I heeled my 3-wood on 18. I slightly over faded my 5-iron on 16."
Rahm may also have had the best of the draw and with 30 mph gusts forecast for Friday afternoon, he'll be looking to take advantage of a morning tee time.
So too will Lowry, Harrington and McIlroy after frustrating afternoons in Orlando.
Lowry matched Power's 72, but after making birdies at the 17th, third and fourth to get to two-under-par with five holes to play, he three-putted the par-three seventh, then bogeyed the par-four ninth, the toughest hole on the course yesterday as it was playing at 492-yards into the teeth of the wind.
Power, who faces high winds in the afternoon, made little on the greens as he mixed three birdies and three bogeys in a 72 while Harrington hit the ball very well but had two three-putts and a chip-in in a 73 featuring four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey at his first hole.
After three-putting from inside five feet for that opening double-bogey, he was delighted to chip in from 60 feet at the second. But for some unforced errors on the greens he might have broken par as he was seventh for approach play and ninth for strokes gainedw from tee to green.
As for McIlroy, who needs to win to have any chance of winning back the world number one ranking from Rahm this week, the world number three hit only six fairways and as a result, missed 10 greens.
He bogeyed the first and while he birdied the par-five fourth, he pulled his drive into water and made a double-bogey seven at the sixth.
He would birdie both par-fives on the back nine but drop a shot at the 14th, where he was bunkered, leaving himself a lot of work to do to get back into contention.
The Holywood star knows he cannot afford to play too often from the rough on Friday if he’s to move away from the cut line.
