Jon Rahm Rallies at the Spanish Open, Shane Lowry Misses Cut
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm demonstrated his skill by recording seven birdies on Friday, which put him back in contention for his fourth title at the Spanish Open. However, Shane Lowry, also a Ryder Cup winner, failed to recover from an unfavorable first day, missing the cut.Rahm’s outstanding round, with a score of 66 strokes under par, placed him five strokes behind the leader, Englishman Marco Penge (67). The Spaniard had started the tournament with a card of 72 strokes on Thursday, in his home tournament.
Lowry had an even more complicated start with a 75 in the first round, two weeks after securing the Ryder Cup victory for Europe. Although he improved with a 68 on Friday, it wasn’t enough to avoid missing the cut by one stroke. Penge shone with four birdies in a flawless round, allowing him to lead by one stroke over a trio of competitors: Jeff Winther of Denmark, Joel Girbach of Switzerland, and Aaron Cockerill of Canada. Rahm is tied for 18th place and seeks to surpass Seve Ballesteros as the most successful golfer in the tournament since the creation of the European circuit in 1972. This is Rahm’s seventh participation in Madrid, where he has already triumphed in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Last year, he came in second place, losing in a playoff against the also Spanish Ángel Hidalgo. Hidalgo, the defending champion, will not be able to defend his title this year, as he failed to make the cut, finishing with three over par.
