Jon Rahm makes rookie mistake at BMW Championship

Jon Rahm powered into contention for the BMW Championship title but not before committing a bizarre penalty early in his third round at Olympia Fields.

"I really can't give you an explanation. It's one of those things that happen in golf. But I never thought it would happen in my professional career"

Rahm defied the brutal layout to fire a superb 4-under 66. It would have been better though, had he not lost concentration on the fifth green, where he forgot to mark his ball before picking it up.

Rahm’s third round got of to a super start as he birdied third and fourth. He misjudged his approach to the fifth and came up almost 45 feet short of his target, leaving him a treacherous two-putt for par.

Rookie mistake on the green

However, the Spaniard must have let his mind wander as he arrived at the green and swiped his ball up to give it to his caddie to clean, only to realise immediately that his poker chip marker was still in his pocket!

"I was holding my marker in my pocket, and for some reason I just picked up the ball thinking I marked it already," said Rahm. He gracefully accepted the customary one-shot penalty before leaving his first putt six feet short of the flag. He did manage to limit the damage to a bogey by knocking in the second putt.

"I was thinking of somebody else and something else or somebody, and yeah, I just picked up the ball without marking it, simple as that. Once I replaced it, I took the penalty and moved on."

Rahm got back on track when he fired a massive 235-yard iron to three feet to set up a birdie at the eighth, and he picked up further shots at 11 and 15 and he closed on two over par.

"I'm proud of being able to maintain my composure afterwards," added the former world No 1. "I think the most important shot of the round was that second putt, the six-footer for bogey. Technically it helped out a lot, as I was able to tell myself I was one under par through five holes,” Jon Rahm said afterwards. Hopefully he has learnt his lesson!

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/31HROLS