Jon Rahm’s opening round at The Open didn’t exactly go as planned Thursday, but it wasn’t his 3-over 74 that had him fuming after his opening 18 holes at Royal Liverpool.
Given that he is the No. 2 ranked player in the world, the Spaniard is used to being a part of featured group coverage just about every time he tees it up in a tournament. That featured group coverage hits a bit differently when you’re playing alongside Rory McIlroy across the pond, however, and Rahm officially hit his boiling point on the 18th hole.
Rahm, who isn’t known for having the coolest of heads on the golf course, made the claim that the TV crew following their group simply forgot he existed.
“I’m trying to walk and there’s way too many people in my way and I can’t go forward at my pace because they’re in my way,” Rahm explained. “Very simple. Then I’m walking off 18 and I’m trying to deal with the unlucky moment on 18, and there’s somebody with a boom mic on my a– keeping up with Rory’s pace, and I can’t go at my own pace. They kind of disregarded that I existed, that’s all.”
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The way Rahm ended his rant with “that’s all” is peak frustrated golfer.
For anyone who has ever been to a PGA Tour event, and especially a major, it is always jarring to see how many people are following certain groups on the course. Camera operators, scorers, rules officials, mic operators, and a handful of other people doing some sort of job make for quite a big crowd right on top of you watching your every move.
Jon Rahm is and should be used to these certain scenarios, after all, he is a Masters champ, but his outburst puts into perspective that maybe the crews at Hoylake were showing a bit of favoritism towards McIlroy.
That, or Rahm walked into the clubhouse after his opening 18 holes and found himself eight shots off the lead, which led to serious frustration.
