Jon Rahm comes up short Saturday at Masters as others find low scores

A pair of blemishes on Jon Rahm’s scorecard Saturday put the world’s No. 2-ranked player in a precarious position heading into the final round of the Masters Tournament.

The Spaniard was 1-under par through seven holes before the par-5 No. 8 turned into a series of unfortunate events. After a solid, 316-yard tee shot, his mishit his approach, sending a low hook into the trees to the left of the fairway. His third shot bounced off a tree into the bushes, forcing him to claim an unplayable lie and take a penalty shot, and a two-putt led to a double-bogey.

Rahm added birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, but his tee shot went into the bunker on No. 18, and it was followed by a second shot landing where the gallery would’ve normally been that led to a two-putt bogey.

The results were particularly frustrating for Rahm, considering the low numbers that were posted by others in the final groups.

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“Pretty awful. I mean, playing good golf, got a great mud ball on 8, a great mud ball on 18, and I didn't make a single putt,” he said. “No way I can be happy about it. The golf course was there for scoring, I was playing good, and couldn't take advantage of anything.“

The Saturday 72 puts Rahm seven shots behind leader Dustin Johnson at 9-under par. It also doesn’t help that there two others tied at 9 under, and six more ahead of him, meaning he needs a series of dominoes to fall his way.

“That's all I can say. Fought my (butt) off at the end to try to salvage an under par round, and I couldn't,” he said. “Really far back to start tomorrow, that's all I can say. I've got to hope to shoot a miracle score to have a chance.“