Jon Rahm not bothered by anything Saturday at Players Championship

Jon Rahm missed the course record by a shot on Saturday, shooting an eight-under round of 64 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Players Championship.

As the main attraction of “Fleetwood-Mac” stumbled, Jon Rahm was putting in his own star performance Saturday at the Players Championship.

Rahm, the talented and powerful 24-year-old Spaniard, came just a shot away from tying the course record at TPC Sawgrass, shooting an eight-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy after the third round.

Beginning his round five shots behind Fleetwood and McIlroy, Rahm made the turn in two-under, his only bogey coming at the sixth hole. It was starting on the back-nine that Rahm, playing several holes ahead of the final group, started to challenge them atop the leaderboard. He birdied the 10th, then hit his approach at the par-five 11th to three-feet for an eagle.

Another close approach at the par-three 13th set up his fourth birdie in five holes. After scrambling to save par the next two holes, Rahm stepped up to the par-five 16th and hit his drive 339 yards down the fairway. He two-putted for birdie, then stuck his tee shot at the iconic “Island Green” 17th to two feet to go 15-under for the tournament. His 13-foot putt for birdie at the 18th to tie the tournament record narrowly missed, and Rahm had to tap in for 64.

“I had a good stretch from one to 18 pretty much today,” he joked after his round.

What a difference a year can make for Rahm. The last two Saturdays at the Players Championship, when the tournament was played in May, were disastrous for him. In 2017 he came into the third round inside the top-10 but shot 82; last year he shot 77, going a combined 15-over for the two rounds.

What’s changed is his calmness on the course. During his PGA Tour career, Rahm has become known almost as much for his temper as his talent. Even the smallest misfortune in a round could set him off, causing him to lose focus and strokes to go along with it. This year, however, Rahm has made a concerted effort to keep his emotions in check and try to shrug off any setbacks that may come. He’s the first to admit he couldn’t have shot the round he did today just a few months ago.

“I think me about eight months ago, maybe not that long, wouldn’t have finished at eight-under. I think I would’ve lost my patience on 14 because I actually hit a good shot and ended up way long with a really difficult up-and-down,” he said.

“I think I would’ve been a little more frustrated. I think most of it allowing me to shoot low today and shoot low every single day this week was that. I definitely feel a difference in myself. It’s been great to feel that pride of all the work that I’ve done to get to this point. So hopefully I can keep doing it tomorrow.”

As Rahm was going low, overnight leaders Fleetwood and McIlroy were struggling to keep their round together. Fleetwood made double bogey on his first hole and was two-over through his front-nine; McIlroy bogeyed his first two holes but came back with three birdies on the front to get to one-under. McIlroy could only manage one birdie on the back-nine, settling for a two-under round of 70. Fleetwood, meanwhile, made four birdies in his last eight holes to tie McIlroy at 14-under and get into the final pairing with Rahm on Sunday.

All three of them will have something to prove in the final round. Rahm has two PGA Tour titles but has never been in a position to win as big an event as the Players Championship. Fleetwood, runner-up at the U.S. Open last year and a Ryder Cup hero, is still looking for his first win in North America. McIlroy, meanwhile, is coming off five straight top-six finishes on the PGA Tour but hasn’t won in more than a year.

Rahm won twice in 2018, including the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. But he admits he wasn’t always thinking about his golf game last year. Instead, he focused more on his own personal maturity, work that’s now paying off this week.

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“Last year was, I’ve said many times, a year of personal growth rather than golf game,” he said. “It’s been a work in progress of many years to get to this point. And it’s hard to do when you’re playing high competitive golf. I can’t attribute it to one thing because I’ve worked on many things slowly. This is, what I called earlier, a mid-term of hopefully is a good final project.”

His final assignment will come on Sunday when he tees off with Fleetwood at 1:35 p.m. EST.