Jon Rahm hits the grass. He then apologizes as the diot punches the man in the face

Jon Rahm was angry, then apologized.

After a while, he was just bored. Rahm he had finished his The PGA Championship first round, where he shot a one-under 69 at Aronimink Golf Cluband a moment on the par-4 7th hole was sticking with him. From the hard left, he hit his second shot onto the green, then, in frustration, he hit the green – and his putt hit a volunteer in the face and shoulder.

Rahm was seen apologizing and a reporter had been curious about what happened.

“Thanks for reminding me of that,” Rahm began. “I got a flyer on my second shot that went too long. It’s not a good spot. Just out of frustration, I tried to take an air swing, just over the green, and I wasn’t looking, I took a divot and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.

“Yeah, it hit him, and unfortunately it hit him in the shoulder and then in the face. I couldn’t feel worse. That’s why I was there apologizing. I have to somehow find a way to give him a present because this is unforgivable and something that could have been completely avoided.”

On the PGA Championship websitea video of the sequence showed Rahm hitting the green, then sliding into the grass. One commenter said: “Oh, and here we go.” 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 bogeyed but played two-under golf over his next 17 holes, which included a layup from 98 yards on the par-4 2nd for a 2nd eagle.

“I mean, what can I say? It was a phenomenal shot, really good wedge shot,” Rahm said. “I walked off that first green kicking myself because it was the wrong shot choice for 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 it with the same number in the wind. Obviously a lot more committed with the right decision and hit a great shot.”

In his session with reporters, Rahm was also asked about Aronimink’s difficulty. A reporter said he had a feeling the results would be lower, and Rahm and the reporter had this exchange (reporter’s words in italics):

“People thought it would be lower?” Rahm said.

People thought the score would be lower this morning.

“Have you been there?” Rahm asked. “Have you seen the golf course?”

Yes.

“You know what, I can understand because, if you just go with some of the numbers, some of the fairways are wide, the greens aren’t crazy,” Rahm said. “But a lot of these fairways are steep in a way that they play very tight.

“Like 15 today, I thought I was going to be in the fairway for sure, and I was out of the fairway. Same at 10, same at 4. I can roll easily.

“Then the lie doesn’t seem as long as many other degrees, but it’s such a thick blade of grass that, even when the lie looks okay, it gets you so badly.

“So I can see how it might look easier, but it’s not. You have to play really good golf to shoot lower than three-way. And then, those pin locations today are good. I mean, they’re set. They’re not easy.

“There was somebody earlier in the week where there was some chatter where people thought 15-20-holes were going to win. And I think that got to somebody at the PGA, and they did something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and keeps getting stronger, yeah, it’s definitely not going to be like that.”

“>