Jon Rahm apologizes for 'inexcusable' incident at PGA Championship
Today's Golfer • • sports
Key Points:
- Jon Rahm had a mixed opening round at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, highlighted by an eagle on the 11th hole but marred by an incident where he accidentally struck a volunteer with a divot after a frustrated club swing.
- Rahm apologized immediately to the volunteer and expressed his intention to track them down and offer a gift as a gesture of goodwill for the unintended injury.
- The PGA of America introduced a new Code of Conduct this week, which includes warnings and potential two-shot penalties for egregious player behavior, though it is unclear if Rahm received a warning for the incident.
- Rahm commented on the difficulty of the Aronimink course, noting that despite appearances, the sloped fairways and thick rough make scoring under three-under very challenging, countering early expectations of low scores.
- He also mentioned that the course setup, including tough pin placements, was adjusted to prevent excessively low winning scores, reflecting the PGA's response to earlier predictions of scores as low as 15 to 20-under par.