Waste Management Phoenix Open: Rahm fires opening 68 on Thursday
Jon Rahm fired a 68 on Thursday as he searches for his first victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The Spaniard came into the 2021 edition of the Phoenix Open as one of the favorites, if not the favorite to notch his first victory at TPC Scottsdale, and the Arizona State University graduate got off to a nice start in round-one on Thursday.
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Jon has been known to drain some incredible putts from time to time including at the BMW Championship last year when he sunk an incredible putt to beat the World number one Dustin Johnson in a playoff. It was more of the same for Rahm on his opening hole on Thursday as he hit a massive 53-foot putt for an opening birdie.
Some errant drives off the tee and a putter that played both hero and villain on the day resulted in a rather quiet front nine for Rahm until the 9th when he added another birdie to go out in 33.
It wasn’t until the 13th hole on his back nine that the 26-year-old Jon Rahm had a real good opportunity to get to four-under on his round.
Rahm threw a dart with his second on the PAR 5 from 270 yards out and set himself up with a real nice Eagle look from inside ten feet. But the putter that had started his day with a bang let him down and he narrowly missed the chance before tapping in for his birdie.
Jon would go onto drive the green in one on the drivable PAR 4 17th to add another birdie, before closing with his only bogey of the day on the 18th after another errant drive and a putt that just came up short cost him his bogey-free round.
A day of missed opportunities for Rahm
It was a solid opening round for the Spaniard who earlier this week discussed the possibility of leaving any Tournament even mid-round for the birth of his child in the coming months.
Sitting five back of the lead after the opening round at TPC Scottsdale will leave Rahm feeling content with his efforts but with an unsatisfied taste after seemingly leaving a number of opportunities out on the course on Thursday.
In truth, it was a mediocre round for the World’s second-ranked player and his stats reflect that matter after an opening-round that saw Rahm gaining strokes in every statistical category but only by the smallest of margins.
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If Jon is to win his first Waste Management Phoenix Open this week at a place he competed at as an Amateur back in 2015, he will need to be more clinical and take advantage of some of these opportunities as he moves forward.