Jon Rahm has withdrawn from the Players Championship ahead of his second round due to illness.
The world number one, in a marquee group alongside Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, carded an opening 71 on Thursday to sit seven shots back of the lead after 18 holes at Sawgrass.
He did not get the chance to work his way up the leaderboard on Friday, with it announced that he had pulled out of the tournament with a stomach virus.
Scheffler and McIlroy both have the chance to take top spot in the world rankings off Rahm with a win this week.
It is a huge disappointment for Rahm, in what is the biggest PGA Tour event of the year outside of the four majors. The winner this week at Sawgrass will take home $4.5million.
The Spaniard has been in sensational form too, already picking up three wins in 2023. His tie for 39th last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended a run of top-ten finishes in ten consecutive worldwide events.
Rahm will likely next be in action at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play, one of the elevated events this year with a $20 million purse. That gets underway on March 22, with the first major of the season, the Masters, then taking centre stage a fortnight later.
