Jon Rahm’s hopes of winning the Scottish Open ended before the tournament really got going.
His opening round of 73 left him eight shots back of the leaders, meaning his task on Friday was making the cut rather than getting in the mix for the win.
This is a continuation of a worrying trend for Rahm when playing against the world’s best players. He has missed the cut at two of the three majors played so far, as LIV players struggle to contend with their PGA Tour competitors.
But what went wrong for Rahm at The Renaissance Club, and should he be concerned for The Open?
Jon Rahm’s biggest weaknesses in opening round of Scottish Open
Rahm had two major holes in his game over his first 18 holes at the Scottish Open: his iron play and his putting.
He was in the bottom six players on approach through one round, as the Spaniard lost nearly three strokes to the field with his irons. It’s been one of his major strengths through the years, but he looks to have completely lost his swing in recent events.
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This is part of a concerning trend for the two-time major winner. When he missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills, it was because he lost 1.55 strokes to the field on approach. He collapsed on the back nine to miss the weekend.
And even when Rahm eventually made it to the green in Scotland, he wasn’t much better at getting it to go down. He lost 1.25 strokes to the field with his putting, contributing to his poor scoring on the day.
If this is his preparation for next week’s Open Championship, then these are ominous signs.
Why Jon Rahm’s poor showing at the Scottish Open could be a good thing
LIV golfers have not performed well at the majors this year, and a lot of that has been put down to their lack of battle testing throughout the season. LIV play on easier golf courses with weaker fields than the PGA Tour, so the players just aren’t prepared for the major tests.
This won’t be the case for Rahm next week. He’ll arrive at Royal Birkdale after a week of tough competition, having played against the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler at The Renaissance Club.
He hasn’t performed well so far, but this could simply be Rahm shaking off the rust, and getting used to playing in proper competition before The Open.
Rahm will hope he’s getting the bad shots out the way so he can compete for the Claret Jug next week.
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