'Inexcusable' - Jon Rahm Issues PGA Championship Apology After First Round Incident

Rahm sits a handful of shots behind the leaders following the action on Thursday, with the Spaniard apologizing for his actions after a moment of aggression on the seventh

Jon Rahm on day one of the PGA Championship at Aronimink
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It wasn't a bad start to the PGA Championship for Jon Rahm on Thursday, with the Spaniard shooting one-under at Aronimink.

The challenging course got the better of top golfers on day one, with Rory McIlroy struggling and Bryson DeChambeau having a nightmare first round.

After securing an eagle on the second hole, you'd be forgiven for thinking that everything went Rahm's way on Thursday at the PGA Championship.

However, on the seventh hole, Rahm's second shot did not go to plan and he let out his frustrations by swinging his club at the ground. The problem is, he wasn't paying attention and ended up firing a divot at a volunteer working at Aronimink.

View of Aronimink Golf Club from the 2026 PGA Championship

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Speaking to the media after finishing his round, Rahm was asked about the incident and he was clearly remorseful about what went happened.

"I got a flier on my second shot that went long. It's not a good spot," he said. "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."

Explaining further, Rahm insisted he apologized but still feels he has more to do to make amends.

"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," the 31-year-old added. "I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that's inexcusable and something that could be completely avoidable.

"Whether it was my intention or not, it was just not good."

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Jakob Barnes
Freelance Writer

Jakob has over 11 years of experience in journalism across sports, entertainment, tech, and politics. Now a freelance writer for Golf Monthly, he covers the top stories from the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and more.

He is relatively new to the game of golf, having first picked up a club in January 2023, but like many, he's now obsessed with this frustrating yet wonderful sport. Jakob broke 100 for the first time in late 2025 and is now ramping up his practice and is getting out to as many courses as possible in order to improve and become more consistent.

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