Jon Rahm gives a fist pump during the Saturday morning foursome matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup. | Photo by Maddie Meyer/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images
Jon Rahm again showed why he is one of the best in the world, while Xander Schauffele struggled on the greens Saturday at the Ryder Cup.
Jon Rahm was inches away from a walk-off hole-in-one at the Ryder Cup.
During Saturday morning foursomes, at the 17th hole at Marco Simone, Rahm and Tyrell Hatton held a 1-up lead over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
After winning the 16th, Rahm had the honor and a chance to end the match.
He stuffed his tee shot to a couple of inches, which ultimately secured the match for Rahm and Team Europe.
“I saw it on the green and thought it was past it because it was so good,” Rahm said of his shot. “I turned around and saw Tyrrell’s reaction, ‘Hey, Jon, look,’ I didn’t realize it was live on the screen, and we almost saw it go in.”
The shot secured Europe’s sixth victory of the completion, as the home side took a commanding 9.5-to-2.5 lead over Team USA with Rahm’s and Hatton’s win.
“He’s like a walking highlight reel. It’s just incredible,” Hatton said of Rahm. “The shot that he’s just hit in there at 17 is just out of this world, so what a partner to have.”
But Rahm may not have had a chance to win the match had Schauffele made some putts.
The former San Diego State Aztec missed a 9-footer to win the hole on 15 and then missed a 6-footer to win the hole on 16.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images
Xander Schauffele misses a putt on the 16th green.
If only one of those putts had dropped, this group would have arrived at the 17th all square. That was obviously not the case, but Cantlay still made things interesting.
After Rahm stuck it close on 17, Cantlay hit a pressure-packed shot to about four feet.
But Schauffele missed that putt too, which gave the Europeans the win.
“All credit to [Cantlay] to go after that and make that shot still,” Rahm said. “It’s unprecedented for [Schauffele] to miss three putts like that in a row. We did a lot of good things today, and I’m glad we closed it out.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
