Jon Rahm did not appreciate being asked to explain himself twice.

The two-time major champion turned prickly with reporters at Royal Birkdale on Friday post-round interview, pressed on the official code-of-conduct warning he'd collected earlier for launching his club after a wayward tee shot on the par-3 15th.

“I shouldn’t have acted that way but... I mean, you guys are acting like it’s every single hole. I had a moment,” Rahm told the reporter, per Fox Sports.

It was the third such ruling handed down across the majors this year, and journalists wanted to know what happens if there's a fourth. From the reaction, it was pretty clear Rahm wasn't interested in entertaining the premise.

Rahm was playing good golf until the 15th hole. Then his tee shot on the par-3 left the green, and frustration took over. He flung his iron into the turf, and the club bounced across the tee box in front of the crowd and the cameras.

An official later came to him on the 17th tee and told him he had been warned with the R&A's new Code of Conduct.

It simply states that if the incident happens again, officials can escalate straight to a two-stroke penalty or disqualification without ever issuing a warning first, depending on how serious they judge the behavior to be.

So when another reporter reminded Rahm that another incident would bring a two-shot penalty, Rahm was visibly annoyed and said, “If it happens,” per Fox Sports.

Rahm Accepted the Warning, but Not a Personality Change

Rahm accepted the warning, but he was not ready to apologize for being fiery.

"I don't always love the word 'emotional.' I'm definitely more intense and passionate than a lot of the players out here, especially at work," Rahm said after the round, according to ASAP Sports.

"It's not like I'm going to -- if I try to alter who I am too much, it might cost me a little bit on the course. But certainly shouldn't have moments like the one on 15; I get it."

He added the shot itself felt especially bad because it was a club he believed was the right one, in the right wind, for the right distance. He expected a good swing and got a bad miss instead. That was what set him off.

And this is not new for him. Rahm has never hidden how much his temper runs hot when his game goes bad.

At the PGA Championship in May, a frustrated air swing after a poor approach at Aronimink's seventh hole sent a divot flying into a volunteer, striking him in the shoulder and then the face. Rahm walked straight over to apologize and later called the moment 'inexcusable.'

It wasn't an isolated incident, either — Rahm has a long track record of letting frustration boil over. At the 2024 PGA Championship, he spiked a seven-iron into the turf at Valhalla after a wayward approach on the 16th hole.

And at the 2023 PGA Championship, Rahm voiced his frustration with an ESPN cameraman who had gotten too close during the round: "Stop aiming at my face when I'm mad.  It’s all you guys do."

He was 2 over for the round at that time.

None of those moments carried a formal penalty, but Friday's did. And Rahm knows the margin for another one is gone for the rest of the week.

Read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Md Saife Fida