LA QUINTA, Calif. — The last time the world’s No. 1 golfer Jon Rahm teed it up, he was shooting 33 under two weeks ago in Hawaii. The last time Rahm played La Quinta Country Club, he shot a 10-under 62.
That’s why his perfectly acceptable 6-under 66 Thursday in the first round of The American Express felt a little. … meh, even though it has him near the top of the leaderboard.
It was a bogey-free round where he hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. He drove it in the fairway, was never really in trouble. He just made it look easy and stress-free out there, and yet he felt like he left too many strokes on the course.
“The score and the weather,” said Rahm when asked what he liked about his round. “It’s a golf course where if you play well you give yourself a lot of birdie chances, and that’s what happened today. My swing didn’t feel 100 percent, and I adjusted and played some good golf. Hopefully, I can tidy up a couple putts. The first few holes I had the worst putts.”
Rahm did start slow. He was a pedestrian 2 under through nine holes, missing makeable birdie putts on Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 9. That left him frustrated, especially with how pristine the greens were at La Quinta Country Club, one of three courses used in the tournament.
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“The ball rolls so perfect there (so) shouldn’t be any excuses, and if it doesn’t go in it should at least be closer than what I was doing today,” he said. “Once I adjusted to the speed, it became better, but yeah it can be frustrating. … You’re always thinking what could be, but then I ended up making a great par putt on 4 and a great par save on 12 so it evens out.”
After that frustrating front, Rahm got hot on the back nine. He birdied the 10th, and then reached the par-5 11th hole in two, two-putting for another birdie. His tee shot on the par-3 12th left him in the left greenside bunker. He had a subpar sand shot, but rolled in a 20-footer to save par, which drew his only fist-pump of the day. He then followed that up with a tap-in birdie on the 13th, and all of a sudden he went from 2 under to 5 under and shot up the leaderboard.
Rahm added a 16-foot birdie putt on No. 16 for his sixth birdie of the day to go with no bogeys. He birdied all four par-5s in his round.
Rahm’s playing partner, Tony Finau, who is ranked No. 17 in the world, struggled. He finished at even-par, which is going to be hard to recover from. He was 3 under through six holes, but didn’t make enough putts and didn’t find enough good birdie chances on a course that gives them up freely. He bogeyed four of the next eight holes with only one birdie mixed in.
Conversely, Rahm was in control throughout the round. Even though he felt like he could’ve shot lower, like the 10 under he shot here in 2018 when he won the tournament, he knows his 6 under keeps him in the hunt. His round embodied the old golf adage that you can’t win a tournament on Thursday, but you can lose it.
“That year (2018) I got off to a flying start, I was 10 under and then 16 under through two days,” the 27-year-old Spaniard said. “But the greens were a little bit firm today. We had some gusty winds, the wind changed quite a bit today. You just didn’t see as many gimmes as you usually see around here.”
As Rahm moves to the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday and the Stadium Course on Saturday, he will look back wistfully on his day at La Quinta Country Club, which he clearly has an affinity for. He gushed about the club, which is being used for the 50th time in this tournament.
“It’s one of those that I’m always looking forward to playing. It’s a great golf course. It’s always in great shape and without a doubt, if I had to be a member of one of the courses in the rotation it would have to be this one,” he said. “I plea to be an honorary member. I think ‘Would they give it to me?’ It’s just a really enjoyable walk.”
The ball’s in your court La Quinta Country Club, if you’re looking for a new member.
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