Jon Rahm apologizes as divot from angry swing hits volunteer
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Two-time main champion Jon Rahm apologized for hitting a volunteer with a divot after he took a swing in frustration through the first spherical of the 108th PGA Championship on Thursday.
Rahm was sad along with his method shot on the seventh gap at Aronimink Golf Club, resulting in the incident.
“I got a flyer on my second shot that went long,” Rahm mentioned after he posted a 1-under 69. “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. [I] took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.”
Rahm instantly apologized to the person, who was hit within the face and shoulders with grass.
“I couldn’t feel any worse,” Rahm mentioned. “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.”
It was an up-and-down opening spherical for Rahm, who was in rivalry till the again 9 of the ultimate spherical in final 12 months’s PGA at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The LIV Golf League captain began Thursday’s spherical on the again 9, opened with a bogey on No. 10 and made the flip at 1-over 36. Another bogey on No. 1 moved him to 2 over.
But Rahm then holed out from 98 yards for eagle on the par-4 second to maneuver again to even par. It was his first eagle in a PGA Championship.
“What can I say? It was a phenomenal shot, [a] really good wedge shot,” Rahm mentioned. “I came off that first green kicking myself because it was a wrong choice of shot for such a good drive. [It was] 105 yards away downwind; it was the wrong shot choice.
“Go to the following gap, and I’ve a really comparable quantity, at the very least I’ve to play it the identical quantity into the wind. Obviously, much more dedicated with the fitting choice, and hit an awesome shot. Obviously, the luck of seeing it go in, proper?”
Rahm’s poor method shot on No. 7 led to a different bogey, however then he closed with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and is tied for fifteenth getting into Round 2.
