"That's what hurts the most": Jon Rahm opens up after missing U.S. Open cut
May 16, 2026; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; Jon Rahm reacts after putting on the 18th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
May 16, 2026; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; Jon Rahm reacts after putting on the 18th green during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Sometimes a player's scorecard does not reflect how the round actually felt, but for Jon Rahm, the gap between how he played and the score he posted is what hurts the most.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm missed the cut at the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills after shooting 68 and 78.
He finished three shots short of making the weekend and later spoke to Spanish outlet Ten Golf about the disappointing result.
"It bothers me more because I genuinely don't feel like I played badly," Rahm said. "I don't feel like I did as badly as the final score suggests."
May 17, 2026; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; Jon Rahm plays on the first hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
May 17, 2026; Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA; Jon Rahm plays on the first hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
He later explained why the result was so frustrating.
"That's what hurts the most. Because if you had told me on the fifth hole, after hitting the shot I hit, that I was going to finish at eight over, honestly, I wouldn't have believed it."
The 31-year-old was among the favorites at Shinnecock and opened with a 2-under 68, but a six-shot collapse over five holes left him two shots outside the cut line, though he insisted the problem was on the greens rather than with his swing.
"It's not that I hit bad putts; they just didn't want to go in," Rahm said.
"They were bouncing quite a bit, given how the greens are, and I think on the greens it was a bit of bad luck."
That claim lines up with how Rahm described his putting through two rounds. "I hit some very good putts," he said. "In the first 18 holes today I didn't miss one, and in the second 18 I hit them just as well. They looked like they were going in, and right at the end they were missing by nothing, half a metre, and they all went off to the side."
That frustration didn't stay confined to his putter.
Jon Rahm's conduct at the U.S. Open also drew scrutiny
Video footage showed Rahm kicking his driver three times during his difficult second round after hitting a poor tee shot.
Earlier in the round, Rahm dropped an expletive after missing a putt on the 9th hole.
The outburst drew attention because Joaquin Niemann had already become the first player penalized under golf's new 2026 code of conduct after throwing his sand wedge during the first round. Rahm, however, avoided punishment.
Rahm will next play at The Renaissance Club in the Genesis Scottish Open as preparation for The Open at Royal Birkdale.
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Written by
Sneha Abraham
Edited by
Pulkit Prabhav