CHARLOTTE — Jon Rahm’s approach on the 11th hole came in low and left, but rather than slide off into its apparent destiny in the left rough, it collided directly with a spectator’s head and careened right … so far right, in fact, that it skittered across the green into more rough, and it was ambiguous whether it helped Rahm at all.
In the end, he made bogey, and it felt like that would be his number all along. The fan, to his credit, took the blow to the dome better than anyone could possibly imagine. He smiled from the very moment it made impact all the way to the short chat with Rahm, when he earned a signed glove for his suffering.
Jon Rahm's approach took a big bounce after hitting a fan. Thankfully, the fan appeared alright and Rahm gifted him an autographed glove. pic.twitter.com/r1kAuchLju
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 17, 2025
The reason we mention this is that Rahm, at six under following his Saturday 67, sits firmly in contention at a major for the first time since leaving for LIV, and amid the nerves and narratives and second-guessing that will inevitably surface between now and the final round cauldron on Sunday at Quail Hollow, it seemed noteworthy that Rahm had the wherewithal to joke about the incident following the round.
“I must say, I’m very impressed,” he said of his accidental victim. “After I hit it and we saw the ball bounce out … I haven’t seen a ball ricochet like that in a while. I mean, if it was a driver, you’d expect it, but for a 6-iron, I mean, that thing came out quick. I told Adam [Hayes, his caddie], ‘get the sharpie ready, because I’m going to have give him something like a signed glove.'”
Hayes’ response?
“That may not be enough.”
Rahm had a brief chat with the fan and joked that if he were European and had grown up playing soccer, he may have been able to aim the deflection a little closer to the hole with a nice header.
As it happened, that bogey on 11 looks like the point at which Rahm turned on the jets. Starting on 14, he drove the green on the par-4, and though he missed his seven-foot eagle putt, the birdie was a cinch. On the very gettable par-5 15th, he buried a 10-footer for another birdie and then got his third straight by sticking his approach to three feet on 16.
Rahm going right at it on 16 🎯#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/qoNV3K1yaq
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2025
That tied him for the lead, and while a bogey on 17 has him two shots back of the leaders, he’s secured himself a place in one of the final groups with a real chance to capture his third major.
(Underrated side note—for all the talk of career slams, if Rahm were to win this week, he’d go to Portrush for the Open with a chance to capture a career slam of his own.)
The biggest question dogging Rahm over the past two years is whether his move to LIV has hurt his performance in majors, and he was asked the question again Saturday.
“Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf,” he said. “My swing was simply not at the level it had to be for me to compete. It’s easier to post a score on non-major championship courses and venues, and I think when you get to the biggest stages like this one and these courses, those flaws are going to get exposed, and it did.”
“But I would say even 2023, after winning the Masters, I did not play good at all until the Ryder Cup, right,” he continued. “So I think the problems began earlier than people think. But I’m now getting closer to a position of being comfortable. I think this week so far and this round has been a show of it.”
Ross Kinnaird
The statistics reflect that comfort. As of this writing, Rahm is 21st in strokes gained: approach for the tournament, 21st in putting, and an all-important second off the tee, the latter stat being extremely valuable at a driver’s course like Quail Hollow.
As his post-round duties came to a close, he fielded a few final questions. Yes, he would check the leaderboard. Yes, he loves feeling the excitement of being in contention again. Yes, it might help him that he knows what to expect against some of the less experienced names near the top of the leaderboard. No, it won’t not be like any other tournament, because even though his preparation will be the same, the stage is not, and it’s no use pretending otherwise.
There is one specter that nobody asked him about, and that’s the presence of the best player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, who will go into the final round with five shots on Rahm. It’s taken some time for Scheffler to find his form in 2025 after an injury, but he seems to have found it, and Scheffler at his peak is the ultimate obstacle in professional golf.
To overcome him, it will take more than confidence and more than comfort, both of which Rahm seems to possess. It’s going to take electricity—a final round in the 65 range, at least—to overcome the brick wall of greatness. That’s his toughest test yet, and no matter where you play in the off weeks, nothing can quite prepare you for that.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com