Brandel Chamblee labelled Jon Rahm's disappointing back-nine at the Olympics as "one of the biggest chokes of the year" after the Spaniard shot 39 to miss out on a medal at Paris 2024.
Overnight co-leader Rahm - who had carded five birdies in his opening nine holes to go out in 31 - was ahead by four strokes around the turn at Le Golf National and appeared destined to bring home gold for his country.
However, despite a sixth birdie on 10, the recent winner of LIV Golf UK chained consecutive bogeys together to give the chasing pack hope. Hope was quickly transformed into a clear opportunity just two holes later after Rahm made a real mess of the par-5 14th and ended with a double bogey.
By that point, eventual medallists Scottie Scheffler (gold -19), Tommy Fleetwood (silver -18), and Hideki Matsuyama (bronze -17) had all moved past - leaving Rahm to simply try and halt the sliding momentum.
In the end, he came up two strokes short of a medal and finished in a tie for fifth alongside Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Analysing the action later in the day for Golf Channel's 'Golf Central', Chamblee compared the two Europeans' most painful Sundays of 2024 - referencing McIlroy's performance when finishing second to Bryson DeChambeau at the US Open.
“I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.” —Brandel on Jon Rahm’s back-nine 39 Not wrong ! pic.twitter.com/6iMBuZtA3iAugust 4, 2024
Chamblee said: “That was just about the wildest back nine that you could ever imagine, ever predict. Jon Rahm with a four-shot lead in the gold position, Scottie Scheffler making the turn six back from the gold position, and wins gold, without a playoff.
"One shoots 29, John Rahm shoots 39. I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the US Open.”
While McIlroy's US Open failure was predominantly caused by putting issues at the sharp end of the tournament, Chamblee pointed out that Rahm had been managing his game superbly until his problem with double-crossing long-range shots reared its ugly head at the worst possible time.
Chamblee continued: “Jon Rahm looked so solid the first three-and-a-half rounds, leading the field in fairways hit, leading the field in driving distance, leading the field in greens in regulation.
“But the demon that has plagued him over the last about year is that double cross. And we saw it a little bit at the 8th, but it visited him notably on the back nine in several key instances.
“And then of course, you have the odd three-putt here or there. So, losing a four-shot lead, not even medaling, by the way, with a four-shot lead.”
Meanwhile, Rahm - who was the subject of strong criticism by Chamblee following his move to LIV Golf - highlighted a four-hole stretch where he "wasn't happy" with his performance, a period which gave him no room for manoeuvre in staging a fightback.
The Legion XIII captain admitted after his poor final round at Le Golf National that the sting of defeat was more painful than he had expected because the 29-year-old from Barrika, Span believed he had let the whole country down.
Rahm said: "I don't remember the last time I played a tournament and I felt this. I don't know what the word is because, you know, I not only feel like I let myself down but to just not get it done for the whole country of Spain, it's a lot more painful than I would like it to be.
"I've gotten the question, where this tournament would rank in my opinion or what I would think it would feel like to win, and I think by losing today, I'm getting a much deeper appreciation of what this tournament means to me than if I had won any medal, right.
"I'm getting a taste of how much it really mattered. I've been very honoured to represent Spain in many, many different events, and to not get this one done stings quite a bit."
