Jon Rahm attends Rickie Fowler’s revival

He didn’t play badly, maybe he lacked regularity, but Jon Rahm started World Cup match play with a loss to a reborn Rickie Fowler (2-4) on the first day of the group stage held at Austin Country Club. A failure that leaves him on the brink of elimination, as only one of the four golfers sharing the league on Saturday advances to the round of 16. The Spaniard will now play against Billy Horschel and Keith Mitchell, with the addition that he no longer depends on himself.

The start was not pleasant, despite the fact that Fowler, one of the most popular boys on the track, was far from the level shown at the start. At the age of 24, the Californian won his first tournament on the world circuit (Wells Fargo); with 26 he finished in the top five in all four majors; and at 27 he won one of the most famous tournaments (The Players). He remains on five PGA Tour titles since turning 31 in 2019. From there he entered into a crisis. He fought with his caddy, a childhood friend, but also with his coaches. He fell out of favor. “We had a great conversation and he didn’t like it. I said, ‘You have to decide if you’re going to be a Kardashian or a golf pro. You’re the king of social media, you’re on all these snapchats and all this stuff.’ I needed a little kick in the butt to work harder,” explained Butch Harmond, his swing coach, one of the most respected in the United States, with whom he broke up shortly thereafter. He hit rock bottom and eventually reached No. 150 in the rankings. .Fowler returned last year with Harmond and racked up three near-consecutive top-10 finishes (most notably, a seventh-place finish at the Zozo Championship).

He entered this World Cup match ranked 59th, at the age of 34 and facing the great challenge of facing one of the golfers of the moment. And it couldn’t get any worse. After three holes, Jon Rahm led by two. A deficiency that will remain until the eighth flag, in which everything changed. Three bogeys on 8, 11 and 15 by the Spaniard and a birdie by the Californian on 12 turned the score (2-4). The Californian won in the 17th minute with a -4 card; while Rahm tied for birdies (5) and bogeys (3).

Of the rest of the day, it should be noted that McIlroy (seeded 3) beat Stallings 3-1; as did Scheffler (1) to Riley for 5-4; Cantley (4) beat Taylor 5-4; Homa (5) beat Suh 4-1; and Schauffele (6) to Cam Davis 4-3. Zalatoris (7) lost to Putnam (2-3).

Second day

This Thursday is the second day of the group stage (15:30, Movistar Golf). Jon Rahm will face Keith Mitchell from 4:26 p.m.,