Jon Rahm Issues Apology After Hitting Volunteer in the Face During 2026 PGA Championship

Jon Rahm accidentally ended up hitting a volunteer with a divot after he swung his golf club on the grass in frustration at the 7th hole.

Jon Rahm Issues Apology After Hitting Volunteer in the Face During 2026 PGA Championship

Jon Rahm (Image via Imago)

Jon Rahm once again lost his cool on the course. In the first round of the PGA Championship, the 2-time major champion accidentally ended up hitting a volunteer. During the press conference, he issued an apology and claimed he would gift them something.

The incident took place at the 7th hole when Rahm was playing alongside fellow major champions Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. This was one of the featured groups on Thursday.

Rahm arrived at the 7th hole while being under par for the day. His approach shot on this hole seemed to be going straight for the pin. It, however, went past it and off at the greens, leading to Rahm getting frustrated.

The LIV Golf star swung his club on the grass in frustration. In doing so, his divot ended up hitting a volunteer at the course.

In the press conference after the round, the Spaniard seemed visibly upset by this moment. While speaking with the reporters, he called his actions “inexcusable” and apologized.

Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer. Yeah, it hit him, and unfortunately, it hit him in the shoulder and then the face. Which I couldn’t feel any worse. That’s why I was there apologizing. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable.

Jon Rahm told the reporters

It is not the first time Rahm had lost his cool on the course. During the Masters Tournament last year, he almost snapped his golf club in half during the first round.

In the Open Championship later that year, he was seen firing back at some fans. A spectator would whistle at him during his backswing. After his shot, the golfer turned back and unleashed on them.

The former World No.1 did have some moments of joy in the first round. He started the round on the back nine with a bogey on the 10th hole.

After bogeying the first hole on the front nine, he had a hole-out eagle on the par-4 Hole 2. This saw his score go from 2-over par to even par.

After his bogey on the 7th hole, where he ended up hitting the PGA Championship volunteer, he made back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. He eventually finished the round 1-under par, 2 shots behind the co-leaders Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Martin Kaymer, Alex Smalley, and Scottie Scheffler.

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Jon Rahm comments on the difficulty of course at PGA Championship

The Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania is proving to be a tough course. Several golfers were seen struggling with their shots and putts in the opening round. In the press conference, Jon Rahm commented on the difficulty of this course.

Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm (Image via X/@UnderdogGolf)

After the first round, 7 golfers were tied for the lead at the top. Before the tournament, there were talks about the score being low in this event.

However, at the moment, it does not look like that. The co-leaders are just 3-under par after the opening round on Thursday. When asked about his thoughts, Rahm expressed that they need to play better to shoot a score of 3-under par or better in these tricky conditions.

You need to play really good golf to shoot lower than 3-under. … There was some chatter where people thought 15 to 20-under was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.

Jon Rahm said

For the second round, Rahm will tee off at 2:05 p.m. local time alongside McIlroy and Spieth. The golfer will be hoping for a strong performance on Friday as he aims to capture his 3rd major title this week.

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