Jon Rahm has explained his confrontation with a fan at Royal Portrush during his opening round at The Open on Thursday.
The Spaniard was left furious as he appeared to be distracted by a whistle from the crowd whilst hitting a tee shot.
After a strong start through nine holes, Rahm sat at two-under-par and within the top six on the leaderboard.
However, a bogey at the 10th hole at Portrush in Northern Ireland sent the LIV Golf star into the next hole in a bad mood.
And that spilt over on the tee box as he began the 11th.
Rahm hit his driver shot but instantly wasn’t happy with it, stepping back and looking over at the fans watching on.
He had heard a whistle during his backswing, and he blamed the noise as his shot landed in the thick rough.
In reaction to the noise, Rahm turned towards spectators and exclaimed in an angry tone: “Really?”
He then continued to rant, saying: “Whistling? Great timing. Right in my backswing, very smart whoever it was.”
The rain-soaked Open fans just stared back at Rahm during the confrontation, with the guilty party unknown.
The two-time major winner would have wanted to find the fairway on the 11th, which is known as one of the most difficult holes on the course and saw over four times more bogeys than birdies in 2019.
But after the supposed distraction, Rahm sent his shot into the rough and managed to scramble to record a bogey on the par 4.
That meant he dropped back to even par for the opening round and left him needing to regain composure.
And on the 12th hole, he did manage to stop his bogey streak before going on to finish his round on -1.
Rahm then explained exactly what happened in the incident, admitting he may have got too angry with the situation.
He told the media: “If I were to paint a picture, it was the hardest tee shot on the course, raining, into the wind. That’s enough.
“I know they’re not doing it on purpose, it just seemed like somebody trying to get a hold of someone…it was bad timing.
“I think I just used the moment to let out any tension I had in me.
“It is what it is to be honest, probably didn’t affect as much as I made it sound like, it was a bad swing as well.”
Rahm is yet to win The Open, claiming his two major titles with US Open success in 2021 and a Masters crown in 2023.
His best finish in the British major was a T2 at Royal Liverpool in the same year that he claimed a Green Jacket.
The last time he played at Royal Portrush, it was a T11 finish, but he’ll be hoping for a better outcome this time around.
Rahm is grouped with reigning Open champion Xander Schauffele and this year’s US Open winner J.J. Spaun for the opening two rounds.
He will tee off for his second round in Northern Ireland among the late starters at 2:59pm on Friday afternoon.
talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage from Portrush from 7am.
The Open: talkSPORT BET Odds
Winner (E/W 1/4 5 Places):
- Scottie Scheffler – 5/1
- Rory McIlroy – 7/1
- Jon Rahm – 12/1
- Ludvig Aberg – 25/1
- Bryson DeChambeau – 25/1
- Tommy Fleetwood – 25/1
See the full market and odds at talkSPORT BET
Boosts:
- Scheffler, McIlroy or Rahm to win The Open – 21/10
- DeChambeau, Schauffele & Aberg all top 25 finish – 11/2
- Any English player to win The Open – 6/1
*odds subject to change. 18+ gambleaware.org