Jon Rahm misses brutal 10-inch putt at Arnold Palmer Invitational: 'I don't know'
Even the world’s top-ranked golfer can struggle on the greens from time to time.
After Thursday’s opening round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, however, Jon Rahm doesn’t have any excuse. He’s just as confused as everybody else.
Rahm, on the par-3 seventh at Bay Hill, had an easy 10-inch tap-in putt to save his par. The shot was something he’s done countless times before, and doesn’t take much thinking.
Yet when Rahm swung his putter, he barely made contact with the ball. His 10-inch putt was left short.
Make percentage inside 1 ft: 99.96%
This is the shortest miss on TOUR this season. pic.twitter.com/IwwTWlrlKm— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 3, 2022
Brutal.
Rahm now has the shortest missed putt of the PGA Tour season so far. He had made 211 straight putts from inside 3 feet this season, too.
“I wish I could give you all the excuses in the world, but no,” Rahm said. “It’s as simple as, you know, it just didn’t feel good in my hands, and I tried to stop, and I didn’t. I just simply didn’t stop. I don’t know, it was very odd.”
Rahm then had to settle for a bogey.
Though that didn’t help — it was one of three he made on his front nine on Thursday — Rahm made up for it before his round was over. Rahm made three birdies on the back side to get back to even par on the day. He is seven shots back of Rory McIlroy, who built a two-shot lead after an opening-round 65.
“I’ve seen many things,” he said. “I’ve seen the putter get a little stuck on a blade of grass on the way back and do something funky, hit the ground before because you’re not paying attention. I’ve seen so many things from a foot. I’ve seen some of the best putters in the world miss it because you don’t really take a proper stance.
“It sucks to give away a shot like that, to be honest.”
