Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox
Spain’s Jon Rahm was in the driver seat on Sunday heading into the back 9 at Le Golf National with a four-stroke lead at the turn but the wheels came off in a hurry. The LIV Golf superstar had 4 bogeys and a double on the back 9 to finish tied for 5th place while Team USA’s Scottie Scheffler, the #1 golfer in the world, had a bogey-free back 9 with 6 birdies to win gold.
After Jon Rahm‘s historic collapse to miss the podium by two strokes, Golf Channel analyst and vocal LIV Golf critic Brandel Chamblee ripped into Jon Rahm’s performance calling it one of the “chokes of the year” and likened it to Rory McIlroy’s meltdown at the U.S. Open where Rory missed his putt and sped off without speaking to reporters.
After Scottie won gold and Rahm finished his round, Brandel Chamblee said “I’m going to put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory Mcilroy at the U.S. Open.”
Chamblee added “Jon Rahm looked so solid the first three-and-a-half rounds, leading the field in fairways hit, leading the field in driving distance, leading the field in greens in regulation. But the demon that has plagued him over the last about year is that double cross. And we saw it a little bit at the eighth, but it visited him notably on the back nine in several key instances. And then of course, you have the odd three-putt here or there. So, losing a four-shot lead, not even medaling, by the way, with a four-shot lead.”
Jon Rahm’s collapse was unprecedented from the Spaniard. He has been one of the best golfers in the world for years and just won his first LIV Golf event prior to the Paris Olympics. Rahm was crying after the emotional win because it’s true, he has struggled this season on the LIV Tour and in the Major Championships, but there has never been a moment that I can recall that he held a 4-stroke lead at the turn on Sunday and collapsed like this.
Brandel Chamblee likening Rahm’s collapse to Rory’s might seem harsh but Rahm was 100% in the driver’s seat. If he had just played the back 9 at even par he would have faced Scottie Scheffler in a playoff… Instead, he bogeyed 17 and 18 to miss out on a bronze medal.