Jon Rahm finally appeared this Tuesday at Pinehurst and the news is, at least, unsettling. As we announced yesterday on Ten Golf, he came to attend to the media, as planned, but there was no golf. Zero. Not even a bit of putting green. Moreover, his right foot was wearing a sports shoe and the left one a sandal, with the foot exposed and a green protection on the last two toes, pinky and the fourth, to keep them separated. The Barrika native is working against the clock to eliminate the infection and be able to play the US Open. Right now, he is a serious doubt.
Rahm is worried. You can see it on his face and he has no problem admitting it. He also has pain. It is true that he is better compared to Saturday or Sunday, but he is not entirely confident. He cannot assure if he is going to play the US Open. “I don’t know what I would do if I am as I am right now. I honestly don’t know. As a competitor, I would tell you yes, but I haven’t tried to go to the course. What I am clear about is that if it wasn’t a Major, I wouldn’t be here. The problem is not only the foot, but the compensations I make in the swing so that it doesn’t hurt me. I am worried about hurting myself in another area and jeopardizing the season. On the other hand, there comes a point where if I don’t think I can win, I don’t know if it’s worth going out to compete”, he commented to Ten Golf, El Correo and Movistar Golf, the Spanish media accredited at Pinehurst.
Jon is going to do everything on his part to play the US Open. Nothing matters more to him than the majors and he is willing to do whatever it takes to play. Therefore, this very afternoon in Charlotte he has an appointment with another specialist whom they have reached through contacts. He is going to check the area, the wound that has been generated, the infection caused that already seems to be under control and will determine if a more aggressive solution can be applied that accelerates recovery for Thursday. Against the clock.
Rahm assures that he is not very clear how and when the wound occurred. It was nothing specific. When he was playing in Pinehurst, preparing the tournament on Sunday and Monday of the previous week alongside Phil Mickelson, he was perfectly fine. From there everything started to get complicated. First a blister, they removed the skin, then a wound, later the infection, that which gets worse, a hole between the two toes and on Saturday it already blew up. On Friday he was able to play with pain (and sign -4), but the next day he woke up with his foot very bad. He went to see the doctors and they applied antibiotic treatment and numbed the area so he could play. The anesthesia lasted just the warm-up session and a hole and a half. From hole 2 of Houston, a lot of pain. “I literally have a hole between the two toes. If you plug in a flashlight you can see everything inside”. The big problem is that they are the last two toes of the left foot, where all the weight is supported at the end of the swing. “If it had been on the right foot, I wouldn’t have any problem”, he assures.
The Basque golfer explains that athletes “are used to playing with pain, but the danger goes beyond. As I have discomfort, to avoid the pain, I make compensations in the swing, I move differently and other parts of the body load up. That’s the main problem”, he assures.
He cannot be ruled out to play because it is a US Open, but right now we have to say that he is a serious doubt. He is being handled with kid gloves and this afternoon’s visit to the specialist may shed light or close all and each of the doors. Who knows. Jon is going to push to the maximum to try to play. All that remains is to cross our fingers.
The most positive thing is that despite adversity, Rahm has not lost his sense of humor. This very morning, talking to his mother, they said: “you have to see, all my life with problems in the right foot (he was born clubfooted) and now it turns out that the one that is giving trouble is the left one. At least we have been able to have a few laughs”, Jon confessed with a mix of concern, sadness and resignation.
