"That's the best round I've played on a links golf course ever”: Jon Rahm impresses at the Open Championship day 3
Jon Rahm made history at Royal Liverpool Golf Course with his performance this Saturday at The Open Championship. The Spaniard's 8-under 63 is the new lowest score record for the Hoylake-based course.
But this brilliant performance has more special meaning for Jon Rahm. The current World No. 3 had never before achieved a round of 63 in major tournaments.
He himself pointed out the relevance of this third round, once completed. According to National Club Golfer, Jon Rahm said:
"That's the best round I've played on a links golf course ever."
“It is my lowest round on a links golf course, my lowest round in an Open Championship. Also, the lowest round shot on this course. It feels really good, but there is a lot of work to do tomorrow.
“I would rather win three times and never shoot 63,” he added. “The job to do today was to come out today and give myself the best opportunity I could. Whenever you get a birdie, you think about one more. That is all you can do."
Despite staying focused on the work he still has to do, Jon Rahm said he really enjoyed the day.
This is what he said:
“It feels really, really good. We practice so hard, and at least a lot of us expect certain things. It gets to a point when you visualise it and you see how it’s supposed to happen. If I do this properly, I will hit it here, that sort of thing."
“That was mainly it," he added "That is what I was feeling. I knew I was playing better, and my swing and my game felt better than the scores I was shooting."
Rahm had spent the first two days at the bottom of the leaderboard, after scoring +3 on Thursday and -1 on Friday. He is currently solo in second position with the third round still to be completed.
Third round for Jon Rahm at The Open Championship
During the two previous rounds at The Open Championship, Jon Rahm had made only seven bogeys, but his number of birdies had also been low (3). Hence, he went out on Saturday focused on polishing his accuracy and his game on the green.
The strategy worked out well and he managed to string together four consecutive pars in the first four holes. However, what he did on the front nine (two birdies, 7 par) did not bode a spectacular leap, although it was a remarkable improvement.
But the best was yet to come and Jon Rahm entered the back nine with three birdies in a row. His putting was exquisite and he continued the round without losing strokes. Two holes with par and two more birdies in a row followed.
By the difficult 17th hole, Rahm had made no bogeys and did not plan to do so on the last two. He closed with a par-birdie to complete an amazing 8-birdies bogey-free round.