Jon Rahm (-11), with an absolutely amazing second half of the round, finished in third place in the British Open, achieving his best result in this tournament and, more importantly, regaining the world number one position to the detriment of Dustin Johnson. The victory went to another American, Collin Morikawa (-15), a well-deserved winner in his debut in the tournament.
The final round of the British has given moments of magnificent golf to the fans gathered at Royal St George’s Golf Club, and Rahm has been one of the main causes of this. After a somewhat frustrating first round in which, due to a mistake with the putt, the result did not reflect his good game, the Spaniard unleashed the storm from the 13th.
From that moment on he strung together four consecutive birdies with sensational tee shots and tremendously fine irons. He did what had to be done on the final day of a major when there is a chance of victory, but it never really seemed to fall. Morikawa was a rock; his three consecutive birdies between the 7th and 9th, together with the slight collapse of South African Louis Oosthuizen (-11 at the end), put his triumph on track.
Rahm did his part, 66 strokes (-4) for a -11 total, and Morikawa did his. Two wins in majors for the 24-year-old talent, following his victory last year at the US PGA Championship.
Another good news of the outcome of the British has been the great finish of Sergio Garcia, who has scored another 66 strokes (-4) to finish in nineteenth place with -4. This result should be a huge confidence boost for the Spaniard in a season in which he is in search of consistency.
Rahm made a huge leap in the standings on the second day, and he did it with a card of 64 strokes (-6), one of the best of the day that put him on the right track at Royal St George’s Golf Club. With no bogeys in the round and with some irons and a firm putt, the Spanish golfer climbed up to 62 positions on that day, rising to twelfth place.
Garcia also made the cut, playing under par for the second consecutive day. Jorge Campillo (+2), Rafael Cabrera (+3) and Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (+4) were out of play at the end of the second round.
Already in the third round, the Basque signed a good -2 that took him to the provisional sixth place; however, the victory still hung on an extraordinary final round. The player from Barrika alternated birdies with bogeys until the last holes, where he made a couple of unanswered birdies that allowed him to finish under par again. This -7 total left him in an excellent position to assault the Top 5 -one stroke behind Corey Conners and Scottie Scheffler-, but far from a Louis Oosthuizen who seemed insurmountable.
The final round dictated that the rival in the title fight was not so much the South African as a fantastic Morikawa.
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