Jon Rahm loses temper at Spanish Open

The archetypal time of the Spanish Open successful Madrid was a tense affair, with Jon Rahm astatine the halfway of attention. Although play doesn't usually impact melodramatic arguments, contiguous the Spaniard showed that adjacent expansive celebrations astatine the Ryder Cup don't warrant a calm head. On the par-4 eighth, Rahm mislaid his temper erstwhile his shot ended up successful the rough. "What a day, what a day," helium said with a curse, intelligibly frustrated by the situation.

Marshall walked implicit and marked the ball, saying, "It's each right." Rahm reacted coldly: "Don't archer maine it's each right, please. Thank you," turning his backmost connected him. Marshall apologized arsenic helium left, but that didn't calm Rahm, who continued: "It's not right."

He did negociate to marque par connected that par, though. The adjacent par outgo him a bogey, leaving Rahm astatine +1 and a full of 72 strokes astatine the extremity of the archetypal round. Although helium made a spectacular eagle from the bunker astatine the par-4 14th, his show was marred by conscionable 1 birdie and 4 bogeys.

“I’m frustrated. I’m precise angry,” Rahm admitted aft the game. “I didn’t consciousness similar my plaything was bad, I was struggling with the wind, honestly.” He added: “That’s golf. You tin triumph a large tourney and past connected Thursday everyone forgets astir you. It’s a blessing and a curse astatine the aforesaid time.”

Ryder Cup

Rahm was playing successful the aforesaid radical arsenic Shane Lowry, who precocious made the decisive putt for Europe successful the Ryder Cup. Rahm said the Ryder Cup was the toughest week of his vocation mentally. Lowry opened with a 75 (+4), with six bogeys and 2 birdies. His play was dependable but without spectacular shots.

At the apical of the archetypal circular leaderboard are France’s Ugo Coussaud and England’s Sam Bairstow, with a people of 65 (-6). Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, English Marco Penge and French Frédéric Lacroix are conscionable 1 changeable down them. "A batch of large shots adjacent the emblem and bully putts. I had immoderate atrocious shots, but I recovered. I'm blessed with the day," Coussaud said.

Rahm is aiming to triumph a grounds 4th Spanish Open rubric and surpass Seve Ballesteros. So far, helium has celebrated successful 2018, 2019 and 2022, and a triumph this twelvemonth besides brings an automatic placement astatine the Masters and the British Open. Right from the start, helium showed that the tourney volition beryllium afloat of unthinkable drama.