Adri Arnaus knew how to deal quite well with the complicated day that arose this Saturday at the Southern Hills field, in Tulsa (Oklahoma), on a third day with rain, cold and wind from the north, which logically led to complicated game conditions for the that very few players were spared.
Adri Arnaus, Pga
The Catalan, fantastic in his performance up to the 14th hole, with two birdies (in the 3rd after scoring an important ‘canutazo’ and in the 5th, the par 5 of the first round) without fail, appeared in the top ten of this Grand Slam in which he debuts.
Arnaus even reached the 8th shared place, but in the final stretch of the route, the one from Moià scored two bogeys on 15 and 17 (this painful one because it was accessible from the tee, it was one of the most generous on the route this Saturday, and complicated existence with the approach), but even so, Adri remained in the top 20 with par 70 on the day and total par (210), 9 strokes behind the leader Mito Pereira (birdie at 18 for 69 and 201, -9), the Chilean who curiously also works with the same psychologist as the Catalan and the Basque Jon Rahm, Joseba del Carmen.
With 204 (-6) sharing the second are the British Matthew Fitzpatrick (67) and the leader after the second day, Will Zalatoris (73). Rory McIlroy (74) sank and men like Justin Thomas (74) or Bubba Watson (73) did not finish rowing at all.
Bravo for the performance to date of the winner of the Catalunya Championship three weeks ago, his first victory on the European Tour, which has given him a lot of confidence and keeps him in this ‘major’ as the best Spaniard by far.
And it is that it was a bad day at the office without a doubt for Jon Rahm in the so-called ‘moving day’ and worse, much worse for Tiger Woods, who is not sure that he will be able to finish the tournament due to the physical problems that he drags after his accident and subsequent operation 15 months ago.
He did not guarantee his presence on Sunday. The Basque, in a day to forget, signed six bogeys for no birdie, it is true that he threw very good putts when more or less clear chances were presented to him and the ball, literally, did not feel like going into the hole, either because the edge of the hole spit it out – to complete the mess, also on the 18th hole – or because it hung from the pot.
The real and verifiable thing is that Jon signed 76 hits for 218 (+8), a world of the first positions. You don’t have to think too much about Jon’s card. Nothing has come of it since the first shot on the 1. It took him seven holes to take the first fairway with the drive -his ally on Thursday and Friday- and he closed the fateful day by making three putts on the 18th with a birdie option reasonable.
Rahm did not sign any birdie in the 18 holes, it is the third time in his career that something like this has happened in the Grand Slams. The two previous occasions were: second round of the US Open in Shinnecock Hills, where he made 77 shots, and day four of the 2017 PGA Championship in Quail Hollow (Charlotte), where he finished with 75.
Southern Hills is the third course on the list and In less than a month he defends the title at the US Open. Tiger, after playing the second nine holes very well on Friday to narrowly miss the cut -you have to see how he held up taking pairs in an incredible way-, this Saturday he disappeared from the map after living a nightmare, with seven bogeys, a triple bogey and a solitary birdie for 79 strokes and 222 (+12).
