SAN DIEGO – Jon Rahm’s PGA Tour record of 21 consecutive made cuts looked at risk. He was straddling the Farmers Insurance Open cutline on Thursday, with five holes left.
He played his final stretch, Nos. 5-9 on North Course – In 5 under, which included a Par at the last hole.
While he waited for PGA Tour Radio to interview him, Rahm glanced at a TV nearby showing his highlights. When his second shot at the par-5 fifth green at North Course at Torrey Pines flashed up on the screen, he smiled, and said, “Ooh. It was so great.
It was. Rahm estimates that he hit his tee shot from the 525-yard hole and was left with only 200 yards. He said it was time to get into attack mode.
It’s more like a soft 6-iron. If the conversation is on-camera, I asked Adam Hayes if he would mind if I took a little off of it. He replied, “No, it’s all of that.” And that’s when a great caddie comes in. I got the exact shot that we wanted and had an incredible chance to be eagle.
116 T44 @JonRahmPGA is inside the cut line, with an eagle at No. 5 @FarmersInsOpen. pic.twitter.com/WjHnm0oo5Z
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR January 26, 2023
Rahm putted in the eagle, which took him to 35th place. He also added three consecutive birdies to shoot 5-under-67, tied for the lowest round of the day. He was now T-14, with a 36-hole total score of 4-under 138. Rahm is eight strokes behind Sam Ryder who shot 4-under 68 on the South Course’s second round.
Rahm won the American Express last week, and his previous start at Sentry Tournament of Champions. He is aiming to be the first player to win consecutive starts since Dustin Johnson in the 2016-17 season. He wanted to achieve this at his hunting ground of choice, which was also the site of his 2017 Farmers Insurance Open victory and his most prestigious win, the 2021 U.S Open.
Yet, his final round at the tournament had already begun with a 73 at South Course. He also made two birdies and two pars in his first 13 holes on Thursday. Rahm was Rahm concerned about his end to the streak of cuts?
He said, “The goal is win.” If I had been at par, it would have occurred to me in the last few holes. Going into 5-9, I knew to focus on the par 5s and the short par-4 7, and everything would be fine. “I was trying to catch up to the leaders as much possible. That’s it.
Rahm was able to rise to the challenge on a sunny, windy day that saw Santa Ana winds blowing enough to cause indecision in golfers’ minds at every turn.
Early in the morning, CBS’ lead analyst Trevor Immelman stated that “it’s going to brutal out there.” The only thing that will save the day is that the greens will still be soft and will be open to receiving, but it’s going be a beast.
Rahm was so happy to have shot 67 in order to extend his cut streak up to 22!
He said, “Anything in 60s would be amazing.” “What I shot today, man? I’m going out to the golf course today because this is a great round.
“I thought the most impressive thing was that I missed three fairways. One was only a foot away from the fairway, and the other two were about six feet apart. That was the most impressive part. This is what allowed me to play a great round of golf. It was great ball-striking.
