On the day that Severiano Ballesteros would have turned 66, Jon Rahm married the legend at the Augusta Masters. Four decades after the genius of Pedreña put on his second green jacket, the giant from Barrika dressed in his first. April 9 will always be the day of Spanish golf in the mythical American tournament. On April 9, but in 2017, the triumph of Sergio García had also arrived. Six years later, Rahm took over to join Seve, the man from Castellón and José María Olazábal, who was a two-time champion. With the Biscayan, who recovers the number 1 in the world, there are already four Spaniards to be crowned in Augusta.
Rahm's was a herculean victory that came after a marathon day in which he had to complete 30 holes. The third day could not be finished on Saturday, just as the second could not be finished on Friday, for weather reasons, and Rahm proved to be the player with the most poise.
Finding the fairways regularly and playing with surgical precision on the greens, he was eating up the field to which the leader, the American Brooks Koepka, was going. In what had been presented as a battle between the two worlds of golf, that of the traditional PGA circuit represented by Rahm, and that of the Saudi LIV league, led by Koepka, the Spaniard emerged victorious.
He started playing on the last round with two strokes behind but on hole 6 he was already the leader and after hole 8 he accumulated two rental impacts. Rahm had holed two birdies and Koepka, nervous, had committed two separate bogeys, which would be three on the 9th hole. His putting did not work and he showed anxiety. Although the Biscayan committed his first bogey of the fourth lap there. Behind Jordan Spieth and veteran Phil Mickelson they nailed birdie after birdie golf but ran out of holes to stage a dream comeback unless Rahm collapsed.
There were nine holes to go and we had to maintain control. Barrika's man did not lose his temper and Koepka did not hit the key, already tempted to risk more than necessary. The American made another mess (another bogey) at 12 and was already three shots behind Rahm. In fact, at that moment the second was Mickelson, who had already finished his lap and was two strokes behind the Spaniard. Rahm signed a couple more birdies at 13 and 14 and the outlook was completely clear. He prevailed with a final card of -12 followed by Mickelson and Koepka, both with -8. In this way, Rahm achieves his second major, after the US Open in 2021. At 28, he has a huge career ahead of him. How proud Seve would be.
