SOTOGRANDE, Spain – Jon Rahm’s woes back in Spain only worsened on Friday when he failed to make the cut at the Andalucía Masters.
The top-ranked Rahm shot 3-over 74 in Friday’s second round, finishing with a share of 99th place and 14 strokes off the lead of Romain Langasque.
That was far from enough to recover from his poor first round. On Thursday, Rahm matched his worst round as a professional with a 7-over 78, leaving him 11 shots behind overnight leader Julien Guerrier.
Full-field scores from the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters
The world No. 1 has struggled in his first tournaments after two years in his home country. Last week at the Spanish Open in Madrid, he was flustered by the crowds who turned out to see him but forgot to silence their cell phones. Rahm opened the tournament with a 63 but had lackluster rounds the rest of the way and was not in contention to defend his title.
But at least he played on the weekend.
It only got worse for the U.S. Open winner at Real Club Valderrama in southern Andalucía. On Friday, he carded a double bogey, three bogeys and one birdie on the front nine. He improved on a bogey-free back nine but managed only one birdie, leaving him with a share of 99th place at 10 over after two rounds.
Langasque carded a 2-under 69 for the second straight day to take a one-shot lead over four chasers.
“I played really solid again today, like yesterday,” Langasque said. “My long game is very good, my driving is really good. I drove a good one on 17, hit a good second shot just over the green and made a long putt for the eagle. That was the bonus for the day.”
Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick, Laurie Canter and Sebastian Soderberg had a share of second. Guerrier slipped to joint sixth at two shots back. Rafa Cabrera Bello, who won last week in Madrid, was on par in 13th.
The Spain swing ends next week with the Mallorca Open.
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