Muristek
Jon Rahm reacts to a near miss birdie during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament, March 10, 2022. ― David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
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LOS ANGELES, March 23 ― World number one Jon Rahm insisted he was happy with his putting form yesterday as he prepared for this week's WGC Dell Technologies Match Play tournament in Texas.
The Spanish star heads into Wednesday's opening round robin fixtures at Austin Country Club on the back of a dip in form that has seen him finish outside the top 10 in his last three starts.
The 27-year-old US Open champion's putting has been indifferent so far this season, with Rahm languishing in a tie for 137th place in the US PGA Tour's putting average rankings.
Rahm however bristled at the suggestion that his putting may be the main reason for his recent failure to challenge for a title.
“I'm kind of getting tired of answering the same question every single week,” Rahm said yesterday.
“Is it as good as it could be? No, but I think it shows in the stats worse than it actually feels just because I'm hitting so many greens and hitting it so good.
“I feel like I've said it a few times. It's not as bad as it looks. It feels a lot better than it looks. Maybe I haven't gotten the results yet, but I'm not worried about it.”
Rahm starts this week's tournament as the top seed, and will play round robin games against Patrick Reed, Cameron Young and Sebastian Munoz during the group phase taking place from today to Friday.
The Spaniard's match with Reed is one of the highlights of the group phase, even if Rahm believes that banana skins are lurking everywhere.
“I think it's one to be aware of just because we all know how good his short game can be,” Rahm said of Reed.
“He's a tough competitor. He's not going to give it to you easy.
“But like that' everybody, right? Anybody can show up and have their best day and make you have a hard time.”
The 64-strong field is divided into 16 groups of four players for the round robin phase, with each player winning one point for a match victory, half a point for a tie and zero for a loss. The 16 group winners advance to Saturday's straight knockout rounds.
World number two Collin Morikawa meanwhile heads into the tournament looking to shake himself out of a slump that saw a missed cut at the Players Championship followed by a 68th place finish at the Valspar Championship last weekend.
Morikawa, who faces Jason Kokrak, Sergio Garcia and Robert MacIntyre in the first round, believes that his recent finishes are not an accurate reflection of his form.
“I put it as a learning experience,” he said yesterday.
“What's weird about the past couple weeks from Players and Valspar is that I felt some of the best golf I had felt warming up and getting ready for the tournament.
“But then there are just like little pieces that when I actually tee it up on Thursday that I'm missing from when I compare it to a really good round or a really good tournament.
“It's so frustrating because I feel like I can hit all those shots but then they're just not put together.” ― AFP