The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Red-hot Rahm raring to go again in Houston
Jon Rahm concedes he is feeling the effects of his superb performance in the WGCmatch play but hopes this week’s Shell Houston Open will prove ideal preparation for hisUSMasters debut.
The Spaniard won all three of his group matches in Austin before easily defeating Charles Howell, Soren Kjeldsen and Bill Haas to set up a final showdown with world number one Dustin Johnson.
Johnsonwasfiveupafter eight holes at Austin Country Club before being pegged back by Rahm, who was unfortunately disturbed by a noise from the crowd before his crucial second shot to the 18th.
Finishing as runner-up still lifted the 22-year-old to 14th in the world rankings and saw him installed as a 20-1 shot to become the first debutant to win the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Asked if his name deserved to be listed higher than the likes of three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, Rahm said: “I feel like if I say it does belong it sounds a little bit arrogant. What I would say is certainly I do feel like I belong there, that I belong where I am right now and that I can compete to win like before.
“I was always going to play this week. I was tired yesterday. I am tired today. Luckily, I’m 22 and I’m sure I’ll be able to get one good night and be ready to play on Thursday.”
Rahm won his first PGA Tour title in the Farmers InsuranceOpenthis season and finished as the leading Kamran Zeynalov became the first Azerbaijan golfer to score an outright victory on the North-east Golfers’ Alliance circuit yesterday when he headed a field of 60 competitors at Ellon with a fine round of six-under-par 64.
Portlethen Golf Club tour pro Zeynalov, whose mother comes from Scotland, earned £130. Last October, he gave notice that hewas amateur in last year’s US Open, after which he turned professional.
That meant he forfeited his place in theOpenchampionship from being the world’s top ranked amateur but finished third in the Quicken Loans National to qualify for Royal Troon, where he was 59th.
He said: “It’smy first year on tour, so I’m trying to learn what I’m supposed to do. I’ve heard different things of how to get ready for Augusta. I’ve heard people playing the week before, other players not playing the week before.
“What I didn’t want to do becoming a force on the winter campaign when he figured in a three-way tie for first place at Peterculter.
The 24-year-old said: “I reckon that 64 was the best golf of my career so far. It is certainlymy lowest score, thanks to an inward half of 28. Like all good rounds, it could have been even better. I did not expect toland in a potholeonthe 17th was fly early to Augusta and make it more important in my mind than it already is.”
Although Johnson withdrew from Houston after his third win in a row in Austin, the way the course is set up to resemble conditions at Augusta means Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are in the Texas field this week.
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green. That costme three puttsand that was my only bogey.”
He had an eagle and five birdies in total, the eagle 2 (at the 17th) and four birdies coming in the space of seven holes from the 10th to the 16th. His inward half of 28 read: 3-3-2-3-3-3-2-5-4.
There were no golf courses in oilrich Azerbaijan – there is one now – when Kamran left with his The Scottish students’ men’steamchampionships teed off yesterday over the Moray Golf Club New Course at Lossiemouth.
The morning foursomes were surprisingly onesided with Stirling I, Strathclyde, St Andrews and Stirling II all taking healthy leads into the afternoon sessions.
The closest match was the fourth versus fifth seed contest between the University of the Highlands and Islands and the University of Strathclyde, where three of the four matches went down the final fairway. Strathclyde won two of those matches on the way to a 3-1 advantage.
The afternoon singles saw St Andrews sweep the singles against Glasgow en
“Certainly I do feel like I belong there” “Three of the four matches went down the final fairway”
route to a crushing 11-1 overall victory, while Stirling had to forfeit the first singles due to injury but won the remaining seven to win 101/ 11/
The match between the Stirling II and III teams resuted in a 10-2 success for the second team, whogoon to face St Andrews. The Strathclyde- UHI match was decided by a suddendeath play-off in which Alistair McNaughton (UHI) produced a birdie to see off Richard Johnston and secure UHI a semi- final meeting against Stirling.
Today’s semi-finals in the women’s student matchplay championship will feature Gemma Batty (Stirling) versus Jen Saxton ( Stirling) and Sinead Sexton (Stirling) against Fern Clark (St Andrews). mother as a youngster to make a newhome in the north-east. So, he has learned golf in Scotland.
Royal Aberdeen’s senior assistant pro JoelHopwood marked his last competition as Alliance organiser by taking second place with a two-under 68. He plays righthanded but putts left-handed and he holed a 40-footer for the first of his birdies at the third hole.