"Jon Rahm with a McIlroy level bottle job"- Fans criticise Spaniard's 'choke' after losing out on medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Jon Rahm was on the verge of a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics golf tournament. The Spaniard even led the leaderboard by four shots going into the back nine, but was unable to hold on and dropped back to T5.
Fans have reacted to Jon Rahm's performance, with most criticizing him for not being able to hold on to such a large lead.
One fan posted the following on X (formerly Twitter):
"Jon Rahm with a McIlroy level bottle job today"
Another fan posted the following:
"Rahm’s was probably worse golf than Rory, but Rory’s was worse, if you know what I mean."
Let's take a look at some other reactions on X:
"Rahm has been a joke since leaving for LIV," one fan posted.
"When he had a 4-shot lead, the prospect of him failing to medal seemed preposterous," another user said.
"To be fair Rahm isn't used to playing 72 holes," another fan wrote.
Jon Rahm was his country's highest-placed player, while compatriot David Puig finished T40. He was also the top LIV Golf player, ahead of Joaquin Niemann (T9).
The Paris Olympics golf event ended with Scottie Scheffler winning on 19 under. Tommy Fleetwood won the silver medal, and Hideki Matsuyama took the bronze.
A look at Jon Rahm's fourth-round performance in Olympic golf
Jon Rahm's score at the 2024 Paris Olympics golf tournament was decided on the back nine of the fourth round. Up to that point, he was one of the best players on the field.
Rahm entered the final round tied for first with Xander Schauffele on 14 under. The Spaniard was quickly left alone at the top as the American had a poor round and fell back down the leaderboard.
The Spaniard made up for Schauffele's poor performance with a good one of his own. He played the front nine with five birdies and no bogeys to move to 19 under, four shots clear of Tommy Fleetwood with eight holes to play.
From there, however, the problems began to mount. Rahm birdied the 10th for his sixth of the round, but bogeyed the 11th and 12th, parred the 13th and double-bogeyed the 14th to see his lead evaporate.
Over the final four holes, Rahm also saw his medal chances disappear as he parred, birdied, bogeyed and bogeyed, to finish with a final score of 15 under.
Rahm's collapse was exploited by other players, most notably Scottie Scheffler, who started the back nine six shots behind the Spaniard. However, Scheffler rallied with six birdies and no bogeys to win the event.
The Spanish double major champion had played his first three rounds with scores of 67, 66 and 66. Rahm was among the main favorites for the title, along with Scheffler, Schauffele and Rory McIlroy.