Bay Hill despairs over unknown Jon Rahm

Bay Hill is a mousetrap full of traps. Bunkers and lakes test big hitters on the course, used to gobbling up yards in their drives. But it’s not easy to stay calm in Orlando, and that minefield ended desperately, even for the best player of the moment.

Jon Rahm, who put on an exhibition at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday by signing an impressive card of 65 strokes, confirmed his bad feelings last night on Friday (76), with another 76 that leaves him practically without a chance to win this Sunday’s outcome (18: 30, Movistar Golf).

And that the beginning was good. The Spaniard seemed to have regained his ease, signing two consecutive birdies on holes 4 and 5. But everything changed on 6. Rahm brushed an eagle there, then missed an easy putt for birdie and went into a spin. Jon started to miss easy shots on the green and hit five consecutive shots on 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. Desperate, the Spaniard took chances and made more mistakes, even sending balls into the water, which were already missing even and with his magnificent penetration. The day ended with +4.

At +1 overall, Rahm is ten shots behind the leader (-9): Kurt Kitayama (winless on the PGA Tour). S -8 are Norwegian Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler (current tournament champion).