Tranlate this title Augusta brings out the worst in Jon Rahm in spanish

Augusta brought Jon Rahm back to the form he seemed to have lost on Thursday. He returned to the 2025 version, the one that allowed him to compete in the playground of the 54th Masters, but now barely survives the fierce competition of the Grand Slam. The Basque golfer finished his first round in the 90th Masters, a day of clear skies, heat, and firm greens, with a 78, six over par. He was in 73rd place, forced to fight for the cut on Friday. A second green jacket is practically out of the question.

Jon Rahm, results

Without the «practically,» a glance at the numbers reveals that no one has won a Masters shooting more than 73 in the front nine since Tiger Woods in 2005 (who shot a 74). They also show that 14 of the 18 champions in 2008 shot under 70 in the first round. Rahm’s start was anything but weak. It was a game-changer for him, hampered by a putter that became the main source of the many headaches he had to contend with. He three-putted four times, on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 13th holes, the sites of three of his four bogeys, the last being the double bogey that turned a bad round into an unmitigated disaster.

He was already fired up on the penultimate par 5 of the day. He had threatened to break the wood with which he had, ironically, sent the ball down the middle of the fairway, then ripped his glove as he took it off roughly and threw the scraps into a nearby trash can. It was the behavior of a man tormented by Augusta. On the 11th, he unleashed a fine iron shot from behind a tree and hit one of the shots of the day on the 12th, but neither of those efforts resulted in a birdie. In fact, he would complete his first birdie-free round in 37, in ten appearances at the tournament.

So he arrived at the final corner of Amen Corner desperately needing a moment of joy, and instead found another disappointment. He overshot his second shot and landed in an unplayable area due to overgrown vegetation on the left side of the green. It took him four strokes to reach the putting surface, and three more to leave it. It was Murphy’s Law personified. His round ended with five pars, some of them hard-fought, like the 17th.

Once in front of the microphones, he couldn’t extract anything positive from the round beyond «not having shot an 80,» and stated he needed «at least a -2 or -3» to be in a position to play over the weekend. He acknowledged that his performance was «strange,» unexpected given his current form, which included a victory in Hong Kong a month ago and three runner-up finishes in the other four tournaments played so far this year on the LIV tour. The truth is that what once sounded like wishful thinking—that the move to the Saudi Super League has diminished his ability to compete in the majors—gains empirical validity with each tournament he plays. This is his ninth since his multimillion-dollar signing, and it was a real factor in his victory for a few holes at last year’s PGA Championship.

Of his fellow players on the tour, the best was Sergio García, a different story altogether. He arrived at this Masters without any major results to cling to and played solid golf, interrupted only by two balls in the water on the 11th and 15th holes, which left him at even par with three birdies and three bogeys. “I hit some terrible shots and some very good ones. I would have gladly signed for a 72 before starting, I won’t lie. Tomorrow will be an important day,” he said, assessing a performance that puts him not too far from the -5 mark set by Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, who defied the discreet start one might expect from a man with countless commitments these days. A second consecutive victory, which has only happened three times at Augusta—by Nicklaus in ’65 and ’66, Faldo in ’89 and ’90, and Tiger in 2001 and 2002—is becoming a real possibility.