Jon Rahm left with ‘sour feeling’ after another frustrating day at the Masters
Defending champion Jon Rahm admitted he had a “sour feeling” at remaining a frustrated also-ran on day three of the 88th Masters at Augusta National.
Rahm had insisted his competitive edge had not been dulled by his move to LIV Golf ahead of his attempt to
The Spaniard’s shock move to the Saudi-backed breakaway came after he had previously pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour and criticised LIV’s 54-hole format, with no cut and a shotgun start as “not a golf tournament”.
The two-time major winner has failed to win any of the five LIV events he has played to date, but travelled to Augusta on the back of finishing fourth in Miami on Sunday and winning the team event at Doral.
However, the Ryder Cup star was never a factor in the year’s first major and added a third round of 72 on Saturday to remain five over par after previous scores of 73 and 76.
Yesterday was terrible,” Rahm conceded. “Today I kept in in play off the tee, which is going to do a lot. Didn’t really make any putts, did I? Gave myself plenty of chances, just didn’t make them.
“Luckily made the one on 17 to have the only birdie of the day – I had a few really good chances on three, four, five and eight, just none of them wanted to go in.
“Those first two days it’s just too hard of conditions to not have your swing. Being a little lost and not being under control of what was going on makes it so much harder.
Bit of a sour feeling knowing you’re not in contention
Defending champion Jon Rahm
“Had to play very defensively and try to pick my spots and just couldn’t put myself in a good position coming into today. I think if you came out today and somehow shot 67 or lower, maybe you could give yourself a little bit of hope.
“But it’s a hard golf course out there. Anything under par is a good round. Anything in the 60s is a fantastic round today.”
As defending champion Rahm will be required to hand over a green jacket to the winner on Sunday and added: “Yeah, I mean, worst case I’ll be a part of the ceremony. I’ll be there.
“I’m guessing it will be a little different (to last year). Bit of a sour feeling knowing you’re not in contention.”
