Jon Rahm was tied for 89th after the first 18 holes at Royal Liverpool at the 2023 British Open. After 36 holes, he was 12 shots off the lead, but on Saturday, he came out firing and closed his round with seven birdies on his last 10 holes en route to a course-record 63.
In the end, no one was going to catch Brian Harman, who won the 151st Open by six shots. Rahm was among four golfers tied for second at 7 under.
“He won by six. It’s not like he won by two or three,” Rahm said. “He won by six, so there’s nothing really any of us could have done. There’s nothing any of us could have done.”
In the other majors of 2023, Rahm won the Masters, tied for 50th at the PGA Championship and tied for 10th at the US Open.
He leads the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings, has a PGA Tour-high four wins this season (no one else has more than two) and he’s second on the money list with $16.2 million in earnings.
Seven Arizona golfers at US Junior
The US Junior Amateur started Monday at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the 75th edition of the championship.
There are 264 players in the field, including seven from Arizona: Wyatt Chapman, Gilbert; Johnnie Clark, Mesa; Owen Bolles, Chandler; Parker Bond, Phoenix; Ajay Morris, Avondale; Arjun Somani, Scottsdale and Tyler Spielman, Cave Creek.
After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top 64 to set up the match play bracket. The final is set for Saturday.
The winner of the tournament, which has an age limit of 18, earns a spot in the 2024 US Open.
Wenyi Ding of China won the Junior Am a year ago but chose not to compete this year. Ding will be a freshman at Arizona State this fall.
Tucson’s Astiazaran wins junior title
Carlos Astiazaran of Tucson won the 2023 IMG Academy Junior World Championship Boys 15-18 division last week. Held in San Diego at Torrey Pines South, Astiazaran was down by two strokes entering the final round of the 54-hole competition. His then posted a 71 to win by three strokes.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rahm’s record 63 at the British Open another highlight for the Masters champion