Jon Rahm is looking to land his first Olympic medal, and the two-time major winner is well-placed heading into the weekend at Le Golf National.
Rahm was one of the red-hot players on day two, carding a five-under 65 to place himself in solo fourth. Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood and Hiedki Matsuyama are also firmly in contention.
Before Friday’s play, Rahm admitted he would like the course to firm up and play slightly more challenging. However, the LIV Golf star instead benefitted from the kinder conditions at Le Golf National.
The Spaniard made three birdies on each nine to finish the day on nine under for the tournament.
Jon Rahm feeling the love at the 2024 Paris Olympics
During his post-round press conference, Rahm highlighted the support he’s received from the Spanish contingent who have made the trip to the French capital.
“Yeah, the Spanish crowd travels really well, especially being as close as we are to Spain, right?” said Rahm. It’s an easy commute to Paris—an easy drive, and you can even do train rides or flights, right? So it’s very easy to get here.”
He added: “And you could tell. There’s a lot of Spanish crowd out there throughout the golf course. Even if you listen to them a couple of times, a few holes ahead, cheering on David, as well. It was a lot of fun. But not only the Spanish crowd.”
The two-time major winner went on to express his surprise at the support – or lack of – for Open Championship winner Schauffele.
“In general, the reception I had on the first two days has been larger than I expected,” Rahm explained. “I don’t know, maybe playing with Xander being The Open Champion and defending the Olympic Champion and another great player like Viktor, I just thought it might have been more than Xander, but probably because we are in Europe and probably because of the Ryder Cup in ”18, the French crowd and Spanish crowd had a great reaction which was a lot of fun to be a part of and in general throughout the day the support was mind-blowing.”
Jon Rahm would be a popular winner at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Considering his European Ryder Cup history and proximity to his native Spain, Rahm would be an extremely popular winner at the 2024 Olympics.
After missing out on the 2021 games due to COVID, Rahm will be desperate to get his hands on an Olympic medal, something only a handful of sportsmen in any discipline do.
Several big names have now emerged at the top of the leaderboard, and there’s every chance of an exciting finish ensuing come Sunday afternoon.
Given that golf is now in the headlines, an enthralling climax to the Le Golf National event would do the sport no harm.
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