On Friday at Shinnecock Hills, Jon Rahm decided to play a little soccer, perhaps inspired by the World Cup games being played concurrently across North America.
The problem? Rahm’s football antics came during his second round at the 2026 U.S. Open, and he was using his driver as the ball. It was just one unfortunate moment from an ugly finish that saw the 2021 U.S. Open champion miss the cut.
When Friday began, Rahm was sitting pretty. He’d managed a two-under 68 in the opening round, putting him toward the top of the leaderboard and only four shots off Wyndham Clark’s early lead.
But everything fell apart for the two-time major champion and LIV Golf star on the back nine Friday.
Rahm made four consecutive bogeys at 12, 13, 14 and 15. At the par-5 16th, things only got worse. He hit his drive at 16 into a right fairway bunker and eventually recorded a double-bogey 7.
In just five holes, Rahm had moved from even par to six over.
The frustration eventually overcame the star pro.
In a moment captured on camera and shared on X by @davidwoodsPGA, Rahm is shown on what appears to be the 16th tee following his drive. In the video, Rahm drop-kicks his driver, then continues to kick the offending club forward a few more times as he walks off the tee.
The moment did not occur in a vacuum. One day earlier, Joaquin Niemann was slapped with a two-shot penalty for “serious misconduct” following a club-throwing incident that happened late on Thursday.
The penalty gave Niemann an 11 for the 6th hole in Round 1. Incredibly, Niemann rallied to shoot a 65 in Round 2 to make the cut.
It is not clear why Rahm’s actions did not rise to the level of a misconduct deserving of a penalty, as Niemann’s did.
By nightfall Friday, Rahm was stuck at six over, two shots below the cut line, sending him home early in a major disappointment.
Unfortunately for Spanish sports fans, the Spanish men’s national team isn’t faring much better than Rahm at the World Cup. They suffered a disappointing draw to underdogs Cape Verde in their first match this week.
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