On Sunday, Jon Rahm looked poised to capture the gold medal for Spain until he unraveled on the back nine.
According to DataGolf, the Spaniard had a 90% chance to win after his 9th hole when he had a four-shot lead.
Rahm would go on to shoot a 39 on the back-nine, failing to finish on the podium for the week.
After the round, Brandel Chamblee ripped Rahm’s performance while speaking on Golf Central.
“That was just about the wildest back nine that you could ever imagine, ever predict.
Jon Rahm with a four-shot lead in the gold position, Scottie Scheffler six back, making the turn from the gold position, and wins gold, without a playoff.
One shoots 29, Jon Rahm shoots 39.
“I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapse-chokes of the year,” Chamblee added. Probably right up there with Rory McIlroy coming down the stretch at the U.S. Open.”
“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 8th, 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.”
Not only was Chamblee critical of Rahm, but the 30-year-old was also critical of himself.
“For about 97 percent of the week has been fantastic,” Rahm said. “The crowd has been great. The week has been great. The golf course is fantastic and it’s just a, there’s basically a four-hole stretch where I could say I wasn’t happy. Besides that, it’s been a really good tournament. There’s still a lot to be proud of, but this is something that’s gonna sting for a while.”
“So, it hurts right now more than I expected, and it feels — it’s hard to let my country down in that way,” he continued. “Had it under control and just let it go. That’s all I can say. I don’t know, I’m assuming there’s gonna be motivation for the future, but I said, right now, it’s more painful than anything else.”
After a slow start to the season, Rahm has picked it up of late. He registered a T7 at The Open Championship and followed it with a win LIV UK at JCB prior to the Olympics.
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Source: USA Today