‘Hard to express how hungry’ Jon Rahm is for another major win; T-5 at PGA Championship CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It had been a while, too long for his liking, but Jon Rahm was pleased to be back in the mix at another major championship. With a 4-under 67 Saturday at the PGA Championship, Rahm will enter the final round five shots back as he looks to capture his third different major title.
?Hard to express how hungry I may be for a major - about as hungry as anybody can be in this situation,? Rahm said afterward. ?Just very excited to be in this position and looking forward to hopefully having a good Sunday tomorrow.? Rahm?s recent major record has been a topic of discussion over the past few months. Since winning the 2023 Masters, he has posted three top-10s in seven major appearances but was never a significant factor late in any of them - a surprising development given the completeness of his game and his overall body of work. Of course, the ebb in form has also coincided with Rahm?s controversial move to join LIV Golf in late 2023. Though he has never finished outside the top 10 on that circuit - a streak that now spans 19 consecutive events - he has largely failed to live up to his lofty standards in the game?s biggest events, against all of the best players in the world.
Rahm said the move to a different tour had nothing to do with the slight downturn in his game. He admitted Saturday that his swing still isn?t exactly where he wants it, that his game is not as sharp as he was a few years ago. But it?s getting there. ?Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf,? Rahm said. ?My swing was simply not at the level it had to be for me to compete. It?s easier to post a score on non-major championship courses and venues, and I think when you get to the biggest stages like this one and these courses, those flaws are going to get exposed - and it did. … ?So I think the problems began earlier than people think. But I?m now getting closer to a position of being comfortable. I think this week so far and this round has been a show of it.? On Saturday, Rahm mixed seven birdies with three bogeys for his lowest major score in his last 18 rounds. He will enter the final day in a tie for seventh.
Rahm was also asked about his eventful 11th hole, when he slung his 6-iron approach shot left of the green. That?s when his shot nailed a spectator in the head and neck area, the ball ricocheting clear across the green and into the rough on the opposite side. Walking up toward the green, Rahm told his caddie Adam Hayes: ?Well, get the Sharpie ready, because I?m going to have to give him something.? He thought about a signed glove, maybe a tee. Hayes replied: ?That may not be enough.? But Rahm?s mood changed when he approached the gallery line and saw that the fan wasn?t injured, only dinged up. The shot will almost certainly leave a mark, but for now, at least, he was in good spirits.
?I told him, if he was European and grew up playing soccer, and he just aimed a little bit better, maybe he could get it closer to the hole,? Rahm said with a laugh. ?It was a weird moment. Sometimes when that happens and they?re not hurt, they are so excited because they know we are going to go there and have a five-minute conversation. But yeah, he was a great sport about it.? Even after the fortuitous kick, Rahm couldn?t get up-and-down from the right rough and made bogey. He rebounded with three birdies in a row midway through the back nine - including a missed 4-footer on the drivable 14th that could have briefly put him in a share of the lead - to get even closer. ?It feels great,? Rahm said. ?It was a lot of fun to be there again.?
