Two-time major champion Jon Rahm admits he is unsure if he will be able to compete in the 124th US Open due to injury.
Rahm withdrew from the LIV Golf League event in Houston during Saturday’s second round because of an infection in his left foot, then arrived for his pre-tournament press conference at Pinehurst No 2 wearing one shoe and one flip-flop.
The Spaniard is due to tee off at 1.36pm local time on Thursday alongside fellow former Masters champions Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, but has revealed he is struggling with the issue ahead of this week’s major.
“It’s a concern,” the 2021 US Open winner said. “It’s doing better. But definitely still in pain. Could I have dragged myself out there (on Saturday) and posted some kind of a score? Yeah.
“But it was getting to a point where I wasn’t making the swings I wanted to make, and I could have hurt other parts of my swing just because of the pain. As to right now (playing) this week, I don’t know.”
Jon Rahm had been on a run of top-10 finishes in every LIV Golf event before having to withdraw from last week’s event
Asked how he had suffered the injury, Rahm added: “We’ve been trying to figure it out because I think that the closest term would be a lesion on the skin. If I were to show you, it’s a little hole in between my pinky toe and the next toe.
“I don’t know how or what happened, but it got infected. The pain was high. On the Saturday round, Saturday morning, I did get a (painkilling) shot to numb the area. It was supposed to last the whole round and by my second hole I was in pain already.
“The infection was the worrisome part. The infection is now controlled, but there’s still swelling and there’s still pain. There’s a reason I walked out here in a shoe and a flip-flop, trying to keep he area dry and trying to get that to heal as soon as possible. But I can only do what I can do. The human body can only work so fast.”
Will Rahm be ready to feature?
Rahm will not play a practice round until Wednesday but can at least rely on his experience of playing the course a few weeks ago as he bids to improve on some poor results in this season’s majors.
Jon Rahm is looking for his first worldwide win since last April’s Masters victory
“I’m in a happy place,” insisted the former world No 1, who was 45th in the defence of his Masters title and missed the cut in the PGA Championship. “It’s not like I’ve been playing bad, even though a lot of you make it sound like I’m playing bad. I’ve had two bad weeks.
“I’ve been top 10 and had a chance to win in most of the tournaments I’ve played, and then unfortunately Augusta and PGA wasn’t my best showings. But, yeah, I’m happy.
Live US Open Golf
Thursday 13th June 12:30pm
“I mean, it’s been a wonderful career so far. And, yeah, it hasn’t been the best first half of the year, but there’s been many times where I haven’t had a great start, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great finish.”
When is the US Open on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports continues to be the home of the US Open, with over 45 hours of live coverage of the four tournament days from June 13-16 and lots of extra tournament programming throughout the week.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The men’s major season continues this month at the US Open, live on Sky Sports. Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler from victory at Pinehurst?
“Live from the US Open” will bring eight hours of build-up, interviews, analysis and practice action on Wednesday, with coverage getting under way from 2pm, before round-the-clock coverage from each of the four tournament rounds.
Coverage from the first two rounds begins from 12.30pm on Thursday and Friday, with over 12 hours live from both days, with the action starting at 3pm on Saturday and 2pm on the final day.
Who will win the third men’s major of the year? Watch the US Open live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW.