The Spanish golfer had a breakthrough performance in round 3 to jump from one place above the cut line to third place in the prestigious Claret Jug competition at the par71 Royal Liverpool course.
In the penultimate round on July 22, Rahm scored eight birdies and no bogeys. The Spaniard shot 63 in the entire match. This is a new record for 18 holes in Rahm's 29 appearances in the four majors, and in the 13 times The Open has visited Royal Liverpool, including this one. Thanks to that, Rahm has changed his score and position spectacularly, from T41 with a score of +2 after round 2 to third with a score of -6 at the end of round 3.
Rahm tees off on the 14th hole of round three of The Open 2023. Photo: AP
The 2023 Open cut line is +3, according to the principle of taking the top or T70. Rahm is one place above the cut point due to bogey on the final hole of round 2 - the par-5 18th. There, he entered the green on his third shot, 10.6 meters from the hole. After the first putt, Rahm was less than a meter from the target, but at that distance it took two more putts to finish.
However, the Spaniard still kept his round score at minus (-1). This result was significantly better than the first round with 74 strokes (+3) and also bogey the last hole due to a sand trap in front of the green and had to escape in the opposite direction of the flag. The opening day's result, especially the round score, made Rahm unhappy and he cursed at the TV reporters at the end of the match.
"When I left the 18th hole and was trying to forget the moment of my mistake on the 18th hole, the TV guys cut in front of me to follow Rory McIlroy. That was disrespectful," Rahm explained to Golfweek about his most recent clash with the media.
At the PGA Championship in May, Rahm also yelled at an ESPN cameraman who tried to get close to him as he prepared to free his ball from the thick, tall rough on the right side of the fairway on the eighth hole of the third round. "Don't point the camera at me when I'm mad. Give me some space," he said at the time.
The Open 2023 will conclude at dawn on July 24, Hanoi time. Rahm will enter the final round with a score of -6, six strokes behind leader Brian Harman and just below second place - Cameron Young (-7).
Rahm, 28, has won 11 PGA Tour titles, including two majors – the Masters in April and the 2021 US Open. He has spent 52 weeks at the top of the World Golf Ranking (OWGR), and this week he is third.
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