Jon Rahm’s first round of this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club got off to a frustrating start due to a rules debate the Spaniard lost.
Rahm striped his tee shot on the par-4 13th 305 yards down the right side of the fairway. Prior to his second shot, Rahm grounded his club behind the ball and saw his ball move slightly. Rahm called a rules official to discuss whether he committed an infraction because Rahm wasn’t “100 percent sure” his club caused the ball to move. Rahm and the official discussed the issue for some time and even got a fan’s phone to see if they could get a closer look at what caused the ball to move.
Rahm replaced his ball and then pointed out to the official that the ball had moved away from the club, which would suggest that it was not his club that caused it to move but rather gravity pulling it the opposite direction. In the end, the official told Rahm that he would be penalized one stroke since the ball moved after he grounded his club.
Watch the entire rules debate below.
While Rahm lost the rules debate, the dropped shot didn’t end up costing the two-time major champion.
Rahm hit his third shot to 33 feet and then poured in a long par putt to get out of the hole unscathed. Rahm fired a 1-under 71 on Thursday and backed it up with back-to-back 69s on Friday and Saturday. He is currently tied for 31st at 7-under-par.
Rahm is one of 11 members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team to tee it up this week at Wentworth as captain Luke Donald makes his final preparations for Bethpage Black. All 11 members made the cut, and Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland will enter Sunday with a legitimate chance to hoist the trophy. Hatton will start Sunday’s final round at 13 under, two shots back of 54-hole co-leaders Alex Noren and Adrian Saddier. Hovland is three shots back. Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Åberg are five shots off the pace.
The European team will spend Monday and Tuesday at Bethpage Black as part of a final scouting trip. They will then go their separate ways before reconvening to try and become the first team to win an away Ryder Cup since Europe’s “Miracle at Medinah” victory in 2012.
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Josh Schrock
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time hiking with his wife and dog, thinking of how the Ducks will break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at chipping. A true romantic for golf, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
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