Jon Rahm gets ‘arguably the best bounce I’ve seen in person’ en route to eagle
LOS ANGELES – There are good breaks … and then there is what happened to Jon Rahm on the 17th hole Friday at the Genesis Invitational.
After shaking off a few miscues midway through his round, Rahm came alive late in the second round at Riviera, making three birdies in a four-hole stretch before stepping into his second shot on the par-5 17th.
Rahm had 270 yards left back up the hill, and a decision to make. If he played a draw, he likely would have sailed the green, leaving himself a tricky up and down. So he opted for his usual shot shape, a tight cut, hoping that if he found the greenside bunker it’d be a straightforward leave.
Full-field scores from The Genesis Invitational
But his 5-wood approach faded more than he expected, clanking off the base of the right grandstand. The ball could have ricocheted anywhere – but it took a direct kick left, skirted the cavernous bunker, trundled through the fringe and rolled down the slope, ultimately settling about 3 feet away for eagle.
Standing back in the fairway, Rahm covered his face in mock embarrassment.
“That’s arguably the best bounce I’ve seen in person my whole golf career, and it would be hard to beat in the future,” Rahm said afterward. “For those wondering, no, I did not call ‘bank.’ I don’t think anybody calls ‘bank’ in that situation.”
Rahm poured in the eagle putt, his second of the day, after starting his second round with an 18-footer on the opening hole. Even with a bogey on the last, he signed for a 3-under 68 that put him just a shot off the lead heading into the weekend as the world No. 3 searches for his third win of the season.
“I feel like as golfers we get plenty of bad breaks in our lifetime,” he said, “so to get one of those we should cherish it, because I won’t see something like this in a long time.”