Jon Rahm has said he plans to practice for the first time during US Open week on Wednesday but admits he "does not know" whether he will tee it up competitively at this stage as he continues to try and make a late recovery from a foot injury.
The 2021 US Open champion was not on site at Pinehurst for the first day of practice on Monday and, after turning up to speak with the media on Tuesday, admitted he was not planning to head out onto the course afterwards either.
Spanish outlet Ten-Golf first reported on Tuesday morning that the two-time Major winner was struggling with an infection in between two of his toes - initially caused by a cut - after his champion's parking spot at the iconic golf course was left empty on Monday.
Rahm later revealed that he was suffering with a "lesion" on his skin - a small hole in between his smallest toe and the adjacent one. He continued to explain that the area is infected but that it is now "controlled," although there remains swelling and pain.
He said: "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 low in between my pinky toe and the next toe.
😣 Jon Rahm no ha estado este lunes en Pinehurst y tampoco jugará el martes👉 Todos los detalles de cómo evoluciona la infección que tiene el jugador español https://t.co/3hYzsrFl5MJune 10, 2024
"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 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 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."
Asked whether he knew how strong the chance he would or would not play this week was, given it was only days after he withdrew from LIV Golf Houston, Rahm continued by saying:
"Could I have dragged myself out there 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 this week, I don't know."
Rahm was first seen limping on the opening day of LIV Golf Houston last Friday. On his fifth hole of the day, he struck a short-iron in and - on impact - was visibly in pain as he attempted to walk it off.
Jon Rahm clearly dealing with some kind of injury here. Was getting his foot worked on just minutes before teeing off, and now visibly in pain after this shot.Makes you wonder how long he's been dealing with this. pic.twitter.com/We8FZCRdv0June 7, 2024
The 29-year-old completed his first round before receiving treatment on his affected area, but Rahm played just six holes of his second round before withdrawing from the event and being replaced by Ben Campbell on Sunday. Rahm's early exit also ended his record of finishing in the top-10 at all seven tournaments since he crossed over from the PGA Tour in December 2023.
Just two days out from the US Open beginning, it still is not certain that Rahm will choose to tee it up in competition at Pinehurst or whether he pulls out - thus maintaining his disappointing stretch of results at Majors in 2024.
📹 Ya está aquí‼️ 👉 Jon Rahm justo antes de entrar en la sala de prensa con una chancla y con tiritas en los dedos del pie pic.twitter.com/GpHv7pq3fIJune 11, 2024
The 2023 Masters champion secured a T2 finish at Royal Liverpool last year but has since ended T45 at Augusta as Scottie Scheffler slipped on a second Green Jacket and missed the cut at the recent PGA Championship.
Pinehurst No.2 might not be the location many players would choose to try and rediscover their form, however, with the small and slick greens above severe false fronts, plus the punishing waste areas eagerly awaiting errant strikes, making it a potentially confidence-sapping course to navigate your way around.
