Jon Rahm celebrates a busy Augusta Masters

Jon Rahm achieved this Sunday green jacketbut he also won the battle. take your first The Augusta masters demanded the gamepatience and tactical intelligence: the key weapons to prevail in a championship in which three trees fell in public did not lead to Friday’s miraculous tragedy, in which storms caused delays and delays, and in which the constant changes in the weather changed the field conditions. But it also doubled the symbolic pulse completing a sensational comeback ahead of Brooks Koepkabig player from Florida, champion of four Grand Slams between 2017 and 2019 and above all currently, one of the inscriptions of LIV Golf, a circuit in the Saudi capital that shook the foundations of the golf industry with multimillion-dollar prizes that led to a rift between players of different calendars. Hand to hand, the Spaniards overturned with a round game. He went to sleep four shots off the leader on Saturday; At noon on Sunday, after completing his 12 fairways due to the previous day’s delay, he was already just two shots behind Koepka; and already in the afternoon he overcame his partner in the star game in the blink of an eye. In that final round, Rahm recorded 69 shots (-3), a total of -12, four less than Koepka and Phil Mickelson. At the age of 28, he adds a second Grand Slam title to the US Open in 2021.

Most of the pools had them three favorites for the title: scottie scheffler as the defending Masters, Rory McIlroy for his regularity in recent months and rahm because he currently has an unattainable winning percentage. LIV sidenurtured by a good number of veterans who were already out of the point, he had two banners at Augusta, coepkawho just won in Orlando, and Cameron Smith, the current champion of the British Open, the only one of the rebellious players invited to the press room before the tournament. Because the masters offered a cold welcome, albeit without harshness, to the rebel side.

But beneath the noise Golf was important. In a sport where losing is normal, Rahm has collected 20 titles in 161 tournaments, 12.4% reliability, it is surpassed only by the best Tiger (22%). Maybe that’s why he patiently mastered the ups and downs he was exposed to in a week where one day he would sweat like hell from the sun and the next day he would have to put on rain gear to withstand the rain and wind.

Rahm managed to get rid of the dizziness the last round of the Masters with the integrity of the chosen ones. Aware that in the first part of the field it is important not to make mistakes, and in the second to extract all the juice from the most favorable flags. Accordingly, eight streets consume, and he added his own successes and Koepka’s mistakeshe turned the sock and commanded a two-shot lead.

That’s how he reached those last 9 on Sunday, where the mantra says the tournament really begins, with those two shots ahead coepkaand the threat, at the same distance, of Phil Mickelsonand three moves from Jordan Spiethwho have already finished their matches.

He Amen Corner, magical but diabolical corner from 11 to 13, Rahm went through it like someone walking through his garden. With a birdie on the remodeled 13th — which, of course, was played aggressively — he increased his income to three shots more Mickelson and coepka; with another hit at 14, he extended the lead to 4, now only on the lefty from San Diego. Only the most reliable gunboat in recent years could lose the tournament. But he did nothing but strike and hold back. He clenched his fist on a par putt on 17; he finally smiled in relief as he approached 18; and he enjoyed his work with a definite hit and ovation from the audience.

Full-game interviews, the latest television innovation in the “majors”

Golf conceived as a television show maintains a balance between the tradition that makes it unique and the necessary adaptation to the audience’s habits. Faced with rounds of almost six hours some of the first days British Openwith almost 150 players on the field, LIV Golf, The Saudi capital, which aims to spark interest in the game among new audiences, is proposing a multi-player format, three days instead of the traditional four, and televising all kicks.

He PGA Tour started offering interviews with the protagonists during their competitive matches. The player offers to answer questions from reporters in the middle of the hole, as he walks from the tee to his next shot. Is Max Homa at the Farmers Insurance Open, openly commenting on his strategy, his doubts and his feelings mid-game; and eventually won the tournament. On Thursday, after a bad start at the Masters, Rory McIlroy he also agreed to a few questions while walking around hole 8. More transparency, more spectacle, more appeal.

Grieving Tiger Woods retires after trying to play until the end

On Saturday, while it was raining on Augusta, Tiger Woods offered his most dramatic pictures on the golf course. It was difficult for him to even walk. His body, crushed by injuries and, above all, crushed by a traffic accident for which he had to have surgery to reconstruct his right leg in February 2021, barely allows him to compete. But the conditions of this last Masters were already too much, despite his attempt to play to the end, to last with all the dignity and greatness of the champion of 15 majors until the last hole, at the age of 47. He announced his retirement early Sunday morning, in the middle of his third round of golf.