Jon Rahm hit a volunteer in the face with a divot on Thursday during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, an ugly moment that cut through the early noise around a course many expected to yield low scores. The incident came on the seventh hole, where Rahm pulled his drive just off the fairway into the left rough, then sent his second shot long into the right rough after what he described as a flier lie.
What followed was caught on Featured Groups coverage from and quickly drew attention online. Gabby Herzig of The Athletic wrote on X that a frustrated Rahm took a swing at the rough on No. 7 and caused a clump of grass to fly into a volunteer’s face. Herzig later said he looked like he felt pretty bad about it and went over to apologize quickly. Rahm made bogey on the hole.
After the round, Rahm said he could not feel any worse about what happened. He said he had tried to make an air swing just over the grass out of frustration, was not looking when he took the divot and hit the volunteer, adding that the volunteer was struck in the shoulder and then the face. Rahm said the incident was inexcusable, that he needed to track the volunteer down to give him a present, and that the whole episode was completely avoidable.
The Spanish star is one of the best golfers in the world and one of the game’s fiercest competitors, but he is also his own toughest critic, and that showed in the way he handled the mistake. Aronimink had been expected by some to play easier because of the lack of trees or other hazards around the fairways, yet it proved harder than many anticipated. As Thursday wound down, the leaders were mostly around three under, far from the 15- to 20-under range that had been floated earlier in the week.
Rahm’s apology may have ended the immediate scene, but the moment stood out because it was the kind of mistake no player can explain away with course conditions or pressure. He said he was there apologizing for a reason, and on a day when the tournament was already playing tougher than expected, the best reminder of the stakes came from a volunteer who had nothing to do with the shot and still felt its impact.
