Faced with one of the PGA Tour’s most traditional layouts, Jon Rahm has no plans to take his foot off the gas pedal.
Rahm is one of four players ranked inside the top six headlining the field at this week’s Fort Worth Invitational, where the Spaniard dazzled with bookend rounds of 66 to share runner-up honors in his tournament debut a year ago. Set to make his return, Rahm explained that Colonial Country Club is similar to the narrow, tree-lined course in Spain where he first learned the game with driver in hand.
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So while many other players in the field will play for position, Rahm plans to employ the same strategy he did on his boyhood course by letting it rip off the tee and taking his chances.
“I felt like if I am going to miss the fairway, I would rather be 60 or 70 yards away than laying up and having 130, especially with this rough being unpredictable and these small greens,” Rahm told reporters Wednesday. “The closer you are to the green, the easier it will be to hit the green. That’s kind of the idea I have.”
Rahm struggled in his most recent start at The Players, but otherwise has had a strong spring highlighted by a win in Spain and a fourth-place showing at the Masters. The 23-year-old added that he feels “a lot more comfortable” off the tee with driver in hand than a fairway wood or long iron, so expect more counterintuitive strategy this week from a player who had no trouble solving one of the Tour’s oldest riddles a year ago.
“I like traditional golf courses,” he said. “You know, everything that says it shouldn’t be good for me, in my mind, is good for me.”
Source: Internet
