Jon Rahm has withdrawn from the third Major of the year, the US Open at Pinehurst No.2.
The 2021 champion has been struggling with a foot injury in recent days, and initial concerns over his involvement began on Saturday, when the injury forced him to withdraw from the LIV Golf Houston tournament after his opening six holes of the second round.
Rahm appeared as scheduled at his pre-tournament press conference at Pinehurst No.2, but he admitted the injury, which he has described as a “lesion” between his toes, was still troubling him, while he didn’t take part in practice rounds on either Monday or Tuesday.
Now, the Spaniard has confirmed that he won’t be competing at this week’s Major. In a statement posted on social media, Rahm said: “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 US Open Championship.
“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.”
During his press conference earlier in the day, Rahm 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.
"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."
Sadly for Rahm, that hasn’t turned out to be fast enough to take part in this year’s tournament. The withdrawal will be a bitter blow for the 29-year-old, particularly after disappointing performances in the opening two Majors of the year. Rahm only just made the cut at The Masters before finishing T45 while he was one of the big names to miss the cut at the PGA Championship.
The news also compounds what is becoming a frustrating season. While Rahm's first seven LIV Golf appearances brought successive top-10 finishes, he is still looking for his first win on the circuit.
He will be hoping to heal quickly with the two more LIV Golf tournaments coming in the next month, at Nashville and in his homeland for the Andalucia event. Immediately after that is Rahm’s final chance to impress in a Major this year, in The Open at Royal Troon.
Jackson Suber will replace Rahm in the 156-player field as first alternate from the Rockville, Maryland final qualifier. It will be his first US Open.
