Jon Rahm (-7) has said goodbye to the Genesis Invitational with an outstanding lap of 65 shots, six less on the day, the best record of the last day in the Riviera, only matched curiously by the one who is putting the most effort into snatching the world title from him, Collin Morikawa (-17), who rose to second position with this result, a great result, but insufficient to access the world number onewhich is still in the hands of the Spanish.
Both Jon and Collin have achieved such a record on the day that it was apparently more difficult to do so, with greens that already looked as usual in this magical corner of California, much firmer than in previous days. The Spaniard, moreover, closed the round without a single blot on the card, among other things because he was once again very consistent from tee to green and, when he touched, unblemished in recoveries. Proof of such solidity is that he finished the tournament as the player who has shot the most greens in regulation. But today, above all, the big difference has been in the greens…
The one from Barrika has released a new putter today and of course the change has come in handy. He started the round on the 10th hole, sinking a six-meter birdie putt and it would not be the only cigarillo he was going to convert (on the 17th, for example, he plugged in another somewhat longer one to make his first and only eagle of the week). In addition, he has also been one hundred percent confident with those short putts, especially to save pairs, which have led him down the street of bitterness days ago, thus always managing to keep the lap at a good pace and on the rise. And he closed as he started it: a four-meter birdie putt on the 9th hole.
Therefore, he leaves Los Angeles with good feelings, climbing almost forty places in the classification and leaving at least his Number One signature with that record of 65. But he sure has work ahead of him. To begin with, he will have to decide and test on the putting green if this change of tool on the greens has been just a patch or if it is rather going to last over time. And I’m sure he won’t walk away entirely satisfied with his wedges either. Or to put it another way: I’m sure he feels that he hasn’t taken full advantage of that thick bundle of excellent drives that he has hit throughout the week. Today, in any case, was probably the best day to handle these short irons from the middle of the fairway.
Sergio Garcia (-4), meanwhile, was unable to beat the field in the final round (round of 72 strokes). Taking into account how well he has hit the forehand throughout the week, in relation to all of his rivals, it seems obvious that the Borriol player has not been comfortable with second shots. Sergio, moreover, when he has connected good irons, he has left some good birdie options along the way today, especially for the first nine holes. Both Spaniards rest this coming week and will return to action at Bay Hill, with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at stake, a tournament that did not usually enter the calendar of any of them and that they recover this season, just before playing the THE PLAYERS.
