Hugo Costa
Updated Monday, February 5, 2024-08:43
Opinion The Persian Golf, by Carlos Toro
LIV Golf Rahm debuts team at LIV: a Roman name, a star teammate and two strangers
Surely more than one of the detractors of
LIV Golf
spent Sunday night looking askance at the outcome of the first tournament of the year that was held in
Mayakoba
, the most Spanish resort of all those that exist outside our borders. The tournament culminated in a beautiful fight between three Spanish speakers and friends; the Chilean
Joaquín Niemann
and the Spanish
Jon Rahm
and
Sergio García
. Mayakoba, in addition to being a gigantic engineering work with four hotels and a course dotted with canals, mangroves and cenotes, is a technical golf course, one of those not designed for the gym golfer, but for the old one, the one of imagination and skill, that of sensations.
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Editor: HUGO COSTA
The new life of Jon Rahm, without sponsors in the debut with the Saudi LIV: "Criticism? Heart that does not see..."
However, Jon Rahm's today were not good and even though he came back from the first two strokes from the hotel, the LIV announced three hours before the start that they had
punished the leader Niemann with two strokes for an incorrect drop
during Saturday's round on the 13th hole. The referees reviewed the images on television to make their decision. The Chilean, who accepted the news with enormous sportsmanship, was only two strokes ahead into the final 18 holes at the LIV Golf Mayakoba.
"I was sitting down to eat my scrambled eggs with my granola, my coffee, I was in the best part of the day when the phone rings and they told me, the first spoonful no longer had the same flavor...and yes, I made a bad decision At the drop, the news wasn't the best, but I knew I didn't have to change my strategy." Niemann, however, showed the first signs of nervousness and
missed his first
drive
from the left, hitting a spectator's butt
.
Meanwhile, Rahm missed the first
birdie
opportunity on the 1st hole, it would not be an easy Sunday for the debutant at LIV Golf. "I felt uncomfortable most of the day, and that discomfort was noticeable at the end, what bothers me most is that the only ball I have hit into the
hazard
off the
tee
all week was today on the 17th hole." At that time, Jon Rahm entered the final two holes tied with Sergio García at -12. The tournament was blown up with the
bogey
of the Barrika golfer, just at the moment in which Niemann took the opportunity to make
birdie
on that same hole and tie with Sergio García at -12, who finished in 18th with par and as leader at home -club.
Sergio
, who gave quite a display from
tee
to
green
all day, miraculously escaped a mid-round checkmate; two consecutive three-shots on holes 12 and 13 that would have exhausted the patience of any golfer, García had the chance to rebound with
birdies
on holes 14 and 15 and finish the day with 66 strokes (-5). The tender image of the 2017 Masters winner sitting on his bag with his little Azalea, waiting for a possible tiebreaker.
Rahmbo
was ruled out with his exit to the bunker in the 18th. He would finish the final day with 70 strokes (-1) and a third place in the tournament.
Tie-breaker
Niemann failed to make
birdie
on 18, so the two great friends,
Joaco
and Sergio, pupil and mentor, would risk the fate of the first LIV event.
They played four times on the 18th
, the last one completely in the dark.
The first three tied with evens, and when the lights were out, the officials were going to suspend the game, the public, animated by the tequila, demanded a party and chanted in unison "another, another...". Niemann looked at Sergio and the two didn't even need to speak, they returned to the
tee
to play in the darkness. Sergio made the worst
swing
of the day with his second shot, and his
approach
was impossible, even so he had a decent option from about five meters to save the
putt
, but his friend
Joaco
, with nighttime, treachery and a lot of heart put his for
birdie
from a little further away, a three that gave him the victory.
Champagne poured over the 18th hole and everyone celebrated one of the most desired victories. "Yes, but I'm not in the
Majors
," the audio of the Chilean was sneaked into one of the ambient microphones during the celebration. Rahm wisely left a sentence that week; "We know who the 10 best players in the world are, wherever they play" and
Joaco
Niemann is not far away, although his ranking places him close to 70th place.
Victory of the XIII Legion
Rahm's anger from the defeat lasted rather short, much less than when he played on the PGA Tour, since his team,
Legion XIII,
achieved the first victory.
Caleb Surrat
played his first tournament as a professional. A few days ago he was in his room at the University of Tennessee and confessed that he had only left the United States once.
At 20 years old,
he is not of legal age to drink the champagne of the splendor with which the LIV crowns its champions, but he does have the courage to sign a triple
bogey
and make five
birdies
in a row, a feat with which he illuminated the victory on Sunday of your team.
Keyran Vicent
barely exceeds 170 centimeters and will not reach 70 kilos, but he bursts the ball even above Rahm's distances. Mayakoba was not his ideal field, but he withstood the result and
Tyrrel Hatton,
like the star that he is, took the team on his back and scored a -7 card. Legion XIII won with -24 and four ahead of
DeChambeau
's
Crushers
. "It's hard to understand how good the atmosphere is when you see it on television, I didn't know what to expect. I smiled a lot more than I expected because of how much fun it was, I really want to get my first victory," Rahm said. your final balance of this first experience at LIV Golf.