Jon Rahm during the first round of LIV Golf Houston. | Photo by Ken Murray/Getty Images
2021 U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm has decided to withdraw from the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Jon Rahm will not tee it up at the U.S. Open this week, despite his best efforts to try and play.
He made the announcement on his social media account, just hours after he disclosed during his pre-tournament press conference that he had concerns over his foot injury.
“After consulting with numerous doctors and my team, I have decided it is best for my long-term health to withdraw from this week’s U.S. Open Championship,” Rahm said Tuesday.
“To say I’m disappointed is a massive understatement! I wish all my peers the best of luck and want to thank all of the USGA staff, volunteers and community of Pinehurst for hosting and putting on what I’m sure will be an amazing championship! Hopefully, I’ll be back in action sooner than later!”
Rahm also pulled out of LIV Golf Houston last week.
“It’s a concern. It’s doing better. But definitely still in pain,” Rahm told the media about his injury on Tuesday morning.
“I think the closest term would be a lesion on the skin. If I were to show you, there’s a little hole between my pinky toe and the next toe. I don’t know how or what happened, but it got infected. The pain was high.”
Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Jon Rahm walks to his press conference ahead of the 2024 U.S. Open.
Rahm then added that he received a shot on Saturday morning, a few hours before he withdrew from Houston, to help alleviate the pain.
“It was supposed to last the whole round, and by my second hole, I was in pain already,” Rahm said.
“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 the 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.”
Unfortunately for Rahm, his body will not heal in time for this year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Rahm has had a tough year so far, as he tied for 45th at Augusta National and missed the cut last month at Valhalla. He has not won a LIV Golf event, either.
His withdrawal from Pinehurst will mark the first time he has missed a major since the 2016 PGA Championship, two months after he turned professional.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
