HOYLAKE, England — Jon Rahm can do without so many cameramen following his every move.
For the third straight major, he has made them the target of his angst.
Rahm complained in a F-bomb-laden rant, according to members of the press who witnessed it and later was asked in both Spanish and English about what was troubling him.
“I’m trying to walk and there’s way too many people in my way, and I can’t go on my pace because they’re in my way,” he explained.
Rahm, the Masters champion in April and world No. 3, had a disappointing day, which ended with a bogey after his second shot at 18 found a bunker and he had to play out backward. He signed for 3-over 74.
“Then I’m walking off 18 and trying to deal with the unlucky moment on 18, and there’s somebody with a boom light on my ass keeping up with Rory’s pace, and I can’t go at my own pace. That’s kind of the disregard that I (dealt with), that’s all,” he said.
In the third round of the PGA Championship in May, Rahm expressed his frustration with an ESPN cameraman who had gotten too close to him at the eighth hole. “Stop aiming [the camera] at my face when I’m mad, it’s all you guys do,” Rahm could be heard saying on the telecast.
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At the U.S. Open, he was a bit more discreet but couldn’t hide is anger with a cameraman, who he claimed was in his face on the par-3 11th at Los Angeles Country Club during the third round.
Rahm plays with his emotions on his sleeve, and contends that when he gets angry it often brings out his best golf. He’s not the only golfer who has complained about cameras being too close to them. Bryson DeChambeau had a similar outburst a few years ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
But being shown on TV also goes with the territory when you’re one of the biggest names in the game. It’s why sponsors such as Santander, a new deal announced with Rahm this week, want the company logo on his sleeve and Callaway re-upped on his endorsement deal, too. Rahm likely will just have to come to terms with cameramen being “in his face.”
The first round of the 151st British Open, however, was not that day.
