Jon Rahm’s PGA Championship has not gone as he envisioned it. That’s even more true of his first nine on Saturday, where his frustrations climaxed in an outburst at a TV cameraman (and he wasn’t the only one whose tempers flared in Round 3).
Rahm entered Saturday’s third round with an outside shot at making a run at the lead. After a disastrous opening-round 76, the newly-minted Masters champion fought back with a 68 on Friday.
Bird flips, F-bombs and more: Tempers flaring Saturday at PGA Championship
But the entire field was greeted with a deluge of rain and wind Saturday morning, and it had a clear effect on Rahm’s scorecard.
Hoping to get a few early birdies and gain momentum, he instead opened with back-to-back bogeys in Round 3, adding three more to end the outward nine with a four-over 39.
At some point during his front-nine swoon, Rahm was searching for his golf ball in some of Oak Hill’s notoriously thick rough — made thicker with the heavy rains — while a TV cameraman filmed him for ESPN’s early-round telecast.
In a clip shared on Twitter by the Fore Play Tracker, the frustration of the moment overcame the World No. 1, and he first gestured for the cameraman to move away, before addressing him directly.
“Give me a G–d— break!” Rahm announced. “Stop aiming at my face when I’m mad, that’s all you guys do.”
As far as on-course outbursts go, it was pretty tame by PGA Tour standards, and somewhat understandable given the circumstances. All recreational golfers are familiar with the occasionally intense levels of frustration that come with a bad round, and that’s without having TV cameras broadcasting your behavior to millions watching at home.
Luckily, Rahm didn’t let his difficult front nine get the best of him, carding three late birdies on the back to finish with a 72 and head into the final round with some positive momentum.