World No. 8 Jon Rahm's promising start to the U.S. Open unraveled at Shinnecock Hills after a string of four missed putts left the Spaniard visibly frustrated during his second round.

The LIV Golf star opened the championship with a bogey-free 2-under 68, but missed opportunities on the greens prevented him from building on that momentum on Friday.

Rahm missed putts consecutively from the 6th through the 9th holes in the second round. Due to those misses, the 31-year-old failed to significantly improve his score.

On the 6th and 7th holes, Rahm needed to make putts of 3'6" and 6'9" to save par. However, he failed, and that led to two bogeys.

Following that, Rahm had the opportunity to record two consecutive birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. The Spaniard again failed to convert birdie putts of 12'6" and 8'11", resulting in two pars.

The 31-year-old was visibly frustrated after his fourth straight missed putt on the 9th hole. He spun his club in the air but grabbed it back. He also let off some verbal steam.

Before those four holes, Rahm had carded a bogey on the par-4 4th hole but bounced back with a birdie on the 5th.

He finished the front nine at 2-over par, but his struggles only intensified on the back nine, where bogeys on the 12th through 15th holes and a double bogey on the 16th dropped him to 8-over par through 17 holes.

How has Rahm performed this season?

Starting with the majors, Rahm came agonizingly close to securing the PGA Championship last month.

The two-time major winner finished three strokes behind winner Aaron Rai alongside American golfer Alex Smalley. At Augusta, Rahm wasn't at his best, as he barely made the cut and finished tied for 38th.

On LIV Golf, Rahm currently sits atop the Individual Rankings. He has won two titles this season in Hong Kong and Mexico City. On top of that, the 31-year-old has recorded four runner-up finishes in the league this season.

At Shinnecock Hills, Rahm's hopes of adding a third major title are in serious jeopardy, with the Spaniard sitting one shot outside the projected cut line of 5-over par after the second round.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav