WGC - Dell Match Play: Jon Rahm ramps it up with crushing win
- Dave Tindall
- 24 March 2022
The Spaniard made it two wins out of two in Group 1 by blasting Cameron Young 5&4 to justify his status as top seed at Austin Country Club.
Jon Rahm has rather stumbled through the early part of the season, retaining his status as World No.1 but not really playing like one.
In his last three starts he's had to settle for tied 21st at Riviera, tied 17th at Bay Hill and tied 55th at Sawgrass.
But a different story could be emerging at this week's WGC - Dell Match Play in Texas.
On day one, he eased to a 4&2 victory over Colombian Sebastian Munoz.
And on day two, he overcame a sticky start to win seven holes out of eight from the 6th hole to go from 2 down to 5 up against American Cameron Young.
The world No. 1 brought his “A” game to ACC. pic.twitter.com/ifrJWdtWYT
— WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (@DellMatchPlay) March 24, 2022
A par at 14 closed out a 5&4 hammering.
Rahm is a match play monster so there was always a chance that a change in format could turn his fortunes.
And, although it's only the second day of the annual showdown in Austin, the Spaniard is showing signs that he could go all the way.
Rahm reached the final of this event on his first appearance in 2017, losing to Dustin Johnson.
And although Europe were thrashed in the last Ryder Cup, Rahm did everything he could to keep the US at bay, finishing the event as his team's top scorer with 3.5 points.
A win or even a tie against Patrick Reed in Friday's final round-robin match will guarantee his place in the last 16.
Here's what he's made of his two displays so far:
Rahm on 4&2 win over Sebastian Munoz
"It's a good round. I don't know what the word would be, it's not stress free, but maybe organised.
"I didn't make many mistakes. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. The only thing that I would like to see improve is a couple short putts that, about three of them, couple of them were misreads, one of them was just a bad stroke that, had I made those, I think I could have closed it out early
"But at the same time I had a chip-in and made a long putt on 13. So it balances out. Overall it was a good round of golf.
"I felt like I kept my patience very, very well and just stayed focused on what I had to do and it paid off."
Rahm on 5&4 win over Cameron Young
"I'm happy, feeling good. Played good in both matches, and today was a tricky day.
"Cameron started really good, three birdies through the first five, and the wind was pumping. I kept playing solid. I kept playing good golf. I stayed bogey free, and he made a couple mistakes, and I think the momentum shifted and I was able to get the win.
"Even after my tee shot on 6 (when 2 down), I said, listen, Adam (caddie), I'm hitting every shot the way I want to. There's obviously way more wind up there than we can see or than we can feel or than we can tell.
"A couple of shots were great. The shot on 3 was good, the shot on 4 was good. Even 1. But got a bit of a wind gust, and he hit driver to 15 feet for eagle.
"He was playing great golf. Obviously I just had to stay patient knowing that mine was coming. From 6 on I played wonderful golf."
