Jon Rahm started the first round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club this week, with his frustrating start due to the Spanish failed rule debate.
Ram paddled his tee on 4 13 305 yards to the right of the fairway. Ram rooted the club behind the ball before his second shot and saw his ball move slightly. Ram called a rule official to discuss whether he had committed a violation, as Ram was not “100% sure” his club made the ball move. Rahm and officials discussed the issue for a while, and even got a call from fans to see if they could look closely at what caused the ball to move.
Ram replaced his ball and pointed out to officials that the ball had left the club, indicating that it was not his club that moved it, but gravity pulled it in the opposite direction. Finally, the official told Ram that he would be punished for a stroke since the ball took the club.
Watch the entire rule debate below.
Despite Ram’s debate on the rules, the discarded shot didn’t cost the two-time Grand Slam champions.
Rahm hit his third shot to 33 feet before pouring into a long putt putt, falling out of the hole without any damage. Ram shot 71 in 71 on Thursday and back-to-back 69 on Friday and Saturday. He is currently tied for 31st with a 7-shot below 7.
Rahm, one of 11 members of the European Ryder Cup, played at Wentworth this week, with Captain Luke Donald making the final preparations for Bethpage Black. All 11 members have made layoffs, with Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland entering Sunday with a legal opportunity to lift the trophy. Hatton will start the final round in the Under-13 Sunday final, with two shots from 54-hole joint chief Alex Noren and Adrian Saddier. Hofland is three shots. Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Åberg were five shots.
The European team will spend Monday and Tuesday at Bethpage Black as part of its last scouting trip. They will then take a separate approach and then start trying to be the first team to win the Ryder Cup as Europe has since won the 2012 “Meracle in Medinah”.
This content is only available to InsideGolf members. Log in to continue watching, or join InsideGolf for full access.
$39.99/year
Josh Schrock
Golf.comEdit
Josh Schrock is a writer and journalist at Golf.com. Before joining golf, Josh was an insider of Chicago Bears in NBC Sports. He has previously reported 49 people and fighters in the NBC Sports Bay area. Josh, an Oregon native and UO alum, spent time hiking with his wife and dogs, pondering how ducks will be sad again and trying to become half-mature. For golf, Josh will never stop trying to break the 90s and never lose Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (update: he did). Josh Schrock can be contacted at josh.schrock@golf.com.
