Jon Rahm is one of the best handful of golfers in the world, and, in media availability and his infrequent YouTube golf appearances, is thoughtful, funny and personable. On the course, in tournaments, however, Rahm is known for being among the fiercest competitors in golf. And without question, his own toughest critic.
That dynamic played out again in the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, just outside Philadelphia.
Pre-tournament, some expected that Aronimink would play easier than other major championship golf courses thanks to the lack of trees or other hazards around the fairways. But as play Thursday winds to a close, it’s played much harder than most expected. With a par 70 layout, the leaders have mostly hovered around three under. Rahm, in his post-round news conference, said as much.
“There was somebody earlier in the week where there was some chatter where people thought 15- to 20-under was going to win,” he explained. “And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.”
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Well, he found out himself just how hard it was playing on the seventh hole.
Rahm pulled his drive just a bit off the fairway in the left rough. He wound up catching a flier lie in the tricky rough, and went long on his second into the right rough. Angry with the shot and the outcome, several on-the-ground reporters said that Rahm swung his club at some tall grass and…sent it flying directly at a volunteer standing nearby, hitting him in the face.
The Athletic’s Gabby Herzig described it in a post on X, “A frustrated Jon Rahm just took a swing at the rough after his approach on No. 7. It caused a clump of grass to fly into a volunteer’s face.” She added that it looked like Rahm “felt pretty bad about it,” and that “he went over and apologized quickly.”
Put in a difficult position, he wound up not being able to get up and down, settling for bogey. Some viewers caught his swing on Featured Groups coverage from ESPN.
After the round, Rahm was asked about it, and said he “couldn’t feel any worse” about it.
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“Thanks for reminding me of that,” he said. “I got a flier on my second shot that went long. It’s not a good spot. Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.”
He added, “Yeah, it hit him, and unfortunately it hit him in the shoulder and then the face. Which I couldn’t feel any worse. That’s why I was there apologizing. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable. Whether it was my intention or not, it was just not good.”
Rahm being the player he is, wound up recovering to finish his round at -1, putting him squarely in contention for his third major championship. Oh, and in what was one of the most eventful rounds of the day, he holed out twice, including from over 100 yards out.
Never a dull moment.
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