Rahm’s ‘fun day’ puts him in medal contention going into the weekend at the Olympics

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Written by
Mike McAllister
Aug 02 2024
- 4 min
Rahm Olympics Friday STORY image

Fueled by one of his best ball-striking rounds of the year, Spain’s Jon Rahm has put himself in medal contention entering the weekend of the men’s golf competition at the Paris Olympics.

The Legion XIII captain hit 13 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation in shooting a second-round 5-under 66 on Friday at Le Golf National. That leaves him at 9 under through 36 holes and in solo fourth on the 60-player leaderboard, two shots off the lead.

“Overall ball-striking was really good,” said Rahm, who is fresh off his first LIV Golf individual title at last week’s LIV Golf UK by JCB. “It's always fun to play days like that where you're swinging and it's always going on line and almost always going the right distance. It just means you're going to have a fun day, and a fun day it was …

“I am very happy with how I played and these are the rounds that are very enjoyable and let's see if I can continue like this for the rest of the week.”

Rahm reeled off three consecutive birdies early in his round, beginning with a lengthy birdie putt at the par-3 second, a two-putt birdie at the par-5 third, and then a terrific approach shot from 183 yards at the par-4 fourth.

He suffered his only bogey when he three-putted the par-3 eighth. On the back nine, he again made three consecutive birdies on holes 14-16.

His only missed fairway came on his final hole, the par-4 18th. His approach shot then landed in the greenside bunker, but he made a lengthy up-and-down to save par. In Thursday’s opening round, he made a late double bogey in shooting 67.

“The putt on 18 was a relief, because I had hit all the fairways and greens, and since it is not the easiest hole, I played to the safest side and with the second shot I simply went for it and it ended up in the bunker,” Rahm said. “You don't want to end up with a bogey, but it was a celebration of relief. … I couldn’t finish off the round the way I wanted to yesterday, so to do so today feels really good.”

Overall, Rahm called Friday’s round a “great day,” adding: “I didn't need anything spectacular like the two shots I holed out yesterday. It has been a very tidy day, in which I played very well, and the only mistake was the three putt on the 8th and the tee shot on the 18th, but it is such a complicated hole that anyone can have a bad swing.”

Rahm has the top score of the seven LIV Golf players competing in the Olympics. 

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC) is at 6 under after a second-round 70 and is T10 through two rounds. Rahm’s Spanish teammate David Puig (Fireballs GC) shot a second consecutive 69 and is at 4 under (T19), along with Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz (Torque), who carded a 70.

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (Fireballs) is 1 under and T35 entering the weekend after rounds of 70 and 71.

Poland’s Adrian Meronk (Cleeks GC) is at 2 over after an even-par 71, while Chile’s Mito Pereira (Torque) had a late triple-bogey en route to a 5-over 76, leaving him at 3 over.

OLYMPICS, ROUND 2 RESULTS

Pos.NameCountryOverall ScoreRd. 2Rd. 1

4

Jon Rahm

Spain

-9

66

67

T10

Joaquin Niemann

Chile

-6

70

66

T19

David Puig

Spain

-4

69

69

T19

Carlos Ortiz

Mexico

-4

70

68

T35

Abraham Ancer

Mexico

-1

71

70

T52

Adrian Meronk

Poland

+2

71

73

T54

Mito Pereira

Chile

+3

76

69

ROUND 3 TEE TIMES

9:11 am (local) | 3:11 am (EDT) - Mito Pereira

9:22 am (local) | 3:22 am (EDT) - Adrian Meronk

10:11 am (local) | 4:11 am (EDT) - Abraham Ancer

11:17 am (local) | 5:17 am (EDT) - Carlos Ortiz

11:33 am (local) | 5:33 am (EDT) - David Puig

12:06 pm (local) | 6:06 am (EDT) - Joaquin Niemann

12:28 pm (local) | 6:28 am (EDT) - Jon Rahm

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