It was a back nine that Jon Rahm will rue for the rest of his career — and Brandel Chamblee was not interested in sugarcoating it.
The Spaniard had a four-stroke lead entering the back nine on Sunday at Le Golf National with a gold medal in sight at the Paris Olympics.
Rahm proceeded to shoot a 39 to not only miss out on gold, but fall off the medal stand altogether.
“I’m going to put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year,” Chamblee said in the NBC studio after the event. “Right up there with Rory Mcilroy at the U.S. Open.”
McIlroy bogeyed three of the final four holes at the US Open, including miss two short putts, to lose to Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.
Rahm’s stunning fall opened the door for the rest of the field and Scottie Scheffler took advantage in as the Masters champ shot 29 on the back to finish 19-under to jump Rahm and the rest of the field to capture gold.
Tommy Fleetwood (-18) grabbed silver, while Hideki Matsuyama (-17) earned bronze.
“Jon Rahm looked so solid the first three-and-a-half rounds, leading the field in fairways hit, leading the field in driving distance, leading the field in greens in regulation,” Chamblee said. “But the demon that has plagued him over the last about year is that double cross. And we saw it a little bit at the eighth, but it visited him notably on the back nine in several key instances.
“And then of course, you have the odd three-putt here or there. So, losing a four-shot lead, not even medaling, by the way, with a four-shot lead.”
Rahm bolted the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in December, and Chamblee has been among the foremost critics of the rebel golf league.
The 29-year-old was not much of a factor in the majors, including missing the US Open with a toe infection.
Rahm had pulled away from a star-studded pack on Sunday and was 20-under with seven holes to go before unraveling, starting with a bogey at the 12th hole.
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Rahm also made a mess of things on the par-5 14th, where he double-bogeyed.
“Once I missed the fairway, which can happen because it’s a tough tee shot to hit,” Rahm said. “But it was a good layup, then I can’t do what I did on the third shot. Can’t go left. Eight-iron, 162 meters, I believe. Trying to take long out of play and knowing that short right is fine. Yeah, can’t go left of that green, right? I ended up in a terrible lie. Ended up paying the price for compounding mistakes on that hole.”
“I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.” —Brandel on Jon Rahm’s back-nine 39
Not wrong ! pic.twitter.com/6iMBuZtA3i
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) August 4, 2024
Rahm completed the disaster with bogeys on 17 and 18.
“I don’t remember the last time I played a tournament, and I felt this—I don’t know what the word is—because, you know, I not only feel like I let myself down but not getting it done for the whole country of Spain is a lot more painful than I would like it to be,” Rahm told reporters afterward.
It’s a tournament that Rahm will want back, to be sure, after having the medal ripped away from him as Scheffler tied a course record nine-under 62 en route to his shocking gold medal finish.
“I’ve gotten the question of ‘Where this tournament would rank in my opinion?’ or ‘What I would think it would feel like to win,’ and I think by losing today, I’m getting a much deeper appreciation of what this tournament means to me than if I had won any medal, right?” Rahm said. “I’m getting a taste of how much it really mattered. I’ve been very honored to represent Spain in many, many different events, and not to get this one done stings quite a bit.”
