Jon Rahm gets real on Masters chances at Augusta National

Jon Rahm entered the 89th Masters Tournament with his sights set on a second Green Jacket. He previously won the Masters back in 2023, the second major championship of his career.

The Spaniard was playing an exceptionally high level of golf, having finished in the top 10 at each event on the LIV Golf tour this season.

But things have not gone as planned at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Rahm carded rounds of 75, 71, and 70 to place him at even par entering the final round. Following Saturday’s 2-under 70, Rahm was rather curt in the media room when asked his thoughts on his mindset going into Sunday.

“Same as today. See if I can go out there and shoot some 6-, 7-under, or lower and hope for the best,” Rahm said plainly.

With the way his third round began, it looked as though he might post a low number and climb into contention.

Rahm birdied each of his first three holes to climb into red figures. With how difficult Augusta National is playing on Saturday, a low number might very well have given him a chance. But that went by the wayside with a bogey-bogey finish.

But even the two-time major champion knew how unlikely that was.

“You’re thinking the fact that you made a couple of birdies to start is doable,” said Rahm.

“That pin on 1 might be the easiest. 2 being a par-5 and then 3 with a great drive, it’s doable. It’s not easy but it’s doable. Just as easily as they come, you can get a little unfortunate and start struggling a little bit, and even though, I made a good number of par putts today to post that under par.

“I was really, really good on the greens beside the 5th hole. If it wasn’t for that, it still would have been an under-par round, an even-par round. There are still a lot of mistakes to hopefully clean up.”

Jon Rahm will enter the final round at even par. That will essentially give him no chance at winning. As of this writing, Rory McIlroy leads the Masters at 10-under par as he plays the 15th.