Jon Rahm was angry, then apologized.
After a while, he became angry. Rahm had finished his first round of the PGA Championship, where he shot a one-under 69 at Aronimink Golf Club, and for a moment on the 4th hole 7 was sticking with him. From the left, he hit his second shot onto the green, then got frustrated, hit the grass – and his divot hit a volunteer in the face and shoulder.
Rahm seemed apologetic, and the reporter wanted to know what happened.
“Thanks for reminding me of that,” Rahm began. “I got a flier on my second shot that took a long time. It's not a good place. Just out of frustration, I tried to swing in the air, just over the grass, and I wasn't looking, I took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.
“Yes, he hit him, unfortunately he hit him in the shoulder and face, which I couldn't have felt worse, that's why I was there to apologize. I have to follow him somehow to give him a gift because that's inexcusable and it's completely avoidable.
On the PGA Championship's website, a video of the sequence showed Rahm hitting the green, then swiping into the grass. The commentator said: “Oh, and we're leaving.” Rahn then turned toward the gallery to his left.
“Whether it was my intention or not,” Rahm said afterward, “it just wasn't good.”
From there on the 7th, he played golf, but he played two-under par over the rest of his 17 holes, including a 98-yard drive on the par-4 2nd for a 2-under eagle.
“I mean what? It was an amazing shot, a really good shot,” Rahm said. “I came off that 1st green kicking myself because it was the wrong choice of such a good drive – 105 yards into the wind, it was the wrong shot choice. Go to the next hole, and I have a very similar number, at least I should play the same number in the wind. Obviously a lot of dedication to the right decision, and you hit a good shot.”
In his session with reporters, Rahm was also asked about Aronimink's struggles. The reporter said there was speculation the score would be lower, and Rahm and the reporter had this exchange (reporter's words in italics):
“Did people think it would be less?” Rahm said.
People thought the score would be low this morning.
“Have you been out there?” Rahm asked. “Have you seen the golf course?”
Yes.
“You know what, I understand because, if you go through some of the numbers, some of the roads are wide, the greens don't really go crazy,” said Rahm. “But a lot of those fairways are slanted in the way they play very narrow.
“Being on 15 today, I thought I'd be in the fairway for sure, and I'm off the fairway. Same on 10, same on 4. It can go off easy.
“The rough doesn't look as long as most other majors, but it's such a hard grass that even if the lie looks good, it doesn't hold you very well.
“So I can see how it might look easy, but it's not. You need to play really good golf to shoot three under. And on top of that, those pin spots today are great. I mean, they're tight. It's not easy.
“There was somebody earlier in the week where there was a conversation where people thought 15-20-under was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and you're doing something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and keeps getting stronger, yeah, obviously it's not going to be anything like that.”
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