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After a rough year at the major championships, Jon Rahm seemed to be back on the right track and ready to contend for the biggest titles in golf.
The Spaniard momentarily held the lead during the final round of the PGA Championship in May and was in contention after the first round at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
However, things came apart during the second round on Friday. Rahm never looked like himself, posting a 5-over 75 to sit at 4-under for the tournament through 36 holes.
It’s safe to say the LIV Golf star was not pleased with his performance. He answered just two questions after the round before leaving his press conference early.
“Honestly, I’m too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective. Very frustrated,” Rahm said before leaving. “Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole, so it’s frustrating.”
Rahm entered Friday as the betting favorite to win the tournament after signing for a 1-under 69 on Thursday. While he is very likely to make the cut at 4-over, he is well off the clubhouse lead of 3-under par held by Sam Burns.
The lead could run even further away from Rahm heading into the weekend depending on how J.J. Spaun and others finish up in the afternoon.
The two-time major champion blamed his putting for the poor score on Friday.
“I didn’t make a putt, that was the main difference. I didn’t play bad. I played quite good golf,” Rahm said. “Didn’t see anything go in beside a seven-footer on seven. That’s it. That’s a very hard thing to deal with to try to shoot a score out here.”
Rahm isn’t the first player to struggle on the brutal greens at Oakmont, which are playing firmer and faster on Friday, and he won’t be the last.
He made just one birdie during his second round to go with four bogeys and a crippling double bogey on the par-4 11th.
While Rahm is far from out of the tournament with the rest of the field still struggling on Friday afternoon, he has a boatload of work to do over the weekend to climb back into contention as he seeks his second U.S. Open title.
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