THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Jon Rahm’s week at the Zozo Championship turned dramatically after nine holes on Friday. Why? Well, sometimes the only answer is because it can.
“Just one [putt] dropped and it’s like, OK, it’s possible to make putts and just keep going,” Rahm said.
For the last two weeks, it didn’t feel like that was possible for the Spaniard, who lost 1.3 shots to the field with the putter on Day 1 and needed 16 putts to cover his first nine holes on Friday.
“If we count [CJ Cup], the last five and a half rounds my putter was absolutely cold, didn’t make anything at all,” said Rahm, who ranked near the bottom of the field last week in strokes gained: putting, yet still finished tied for 17th.
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Rahm said it was a 22-footer for eagle at the par-5 11th hole on Friday that sparked his putting turnaround. Since then he’s 14 under and just a shot off the lead following a third-round 63.
“That eagle that I made just kind of freed me up a little bit, made a couple more putts. And then today those putts on 1 and 2 were really helpful, obviously were key to good momentum and got confidence going,” Rahm said. “Nothing technical at all, though.”