There have been many flare-ups between golfers and media over the last while, particularly around LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed. But on Saturday at the PGA Championship at Oak HilL Country Club in Rochester, NY, it was PGA Tour golfer (and recent Masters champion) Jon Rahm who had quite the interactions, including one with an ESPN camera operator:
“Stop aiming at my face when I’m mad, it’s all you guys do.” -jon Rahm going full Bryson on the camera man 😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/RPvMg7zYNd
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) May 20, 2023
That came after Rahm previously took a swing at two on-course mics following poor shots:
https://twitter.com/ArtistGolferJon/status/1659942197830230017
Update:
RIP to tee box microphone Jon Rahm just crushed on #6.
Back to back blows for mics. https://t.co/70MYmuW6YI
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) May 20, 2023
And it came after Rahm was caught on a hot mic Friday saying ‘Great ******* hole, PGA” about the hole location on the 11th.
"Great hole, PGA. Great fucking hole."🤔
Rahm is not a fan of 11 pic.twitter.com/NkwzPlM4xK
— Ryan Noonan (@RyNoonan) May 19, 2023
Rahm, currently the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, opened this tournament with a six-over 76 Thursday. He then recovered with a 68 Friday to make the cut. But he was three over through 14 holes Saturday, and that was after birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. It seems highly unlikely at this point he’s going to follow up his Masters win with another major championship this weekend. But he has been providing some notable moments through this tournament, some that bring up memories of DeChambeau’s various run-ins with media.
Of course, it’s not just Rahm (seen above after a tee shot Friday) and DeChambeau that haven’t always been thrilled with golf TV coverage. At last year’s PGA Championship, Tiger Woods asked a cameraman to “back off.” And while some players have embraced live mics and behind-the-scenes docuseries, the adoption there has been far from universal. So Rahm isn’t alone with some frustrations here. But it’s still notable to see the specific ways he’s been airing those.
[Christopher Powers on Twitter; photo from Aaron Doster/USA Today Sports]
