Jon Rahm comes to Rory McIlroy's defence over US Open disaster
Jon Rahm believes Rory McIlroy has faced unfair criticism for his costly missed putt on the final hole at the US Open.
Jon Rahm believes the difficulty of Rory McIlroy's missed putt on the 18th green at Pinehurst No.2 was severely underplayed by NBC analyst Smylie Kaufman.
When McIlroy's fateful putt drifted past the right side of the hole, golf fans around the world could barely believe what they were watching.
The Northern Irishman was in pole position to undo 10 years of heartbreak, but three bogeys in his last four holes delivered potentially his most brutal major miss to date.
The missed putt left eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau needing only a par on the final hole to secure victory, and the LIV Golf star duly delivered, making one of the all-time up and downs to finally sink McIlroy's chances of lifting a fifth major title.
Having had to withdraw from the championship due to an injury, Rahm was watching the action unfold from the comfort of his own home.
Despite confirming that he enjoyed the coverage, he did have a bone to pick with the analysis of McIlroy's meltdown.
While critics and fans have been quick to condemn McIlroy for the missed three-footer, Rahm, a player who knows a thing or two about major winning putts, has asserted that the shot was far more challenging than it appeared.
Speaking to reporters ahead of LIV Nashville, the Legion XIII captain came to the defence of his Ryder Cup teammate and took a subtle dig at NBC analyst Smylie Kaufman for underplaying the difficulty of the shot.
Here's what the Spaniard had to say:
"One of the things that absolutely burned me, and I think it was Smylie who said it, he severely underplayed how difficult Rory's putt on 18 was.
"When he said it's a left-centre putt, if you hit that putt left-centre and miss the hole, you're off the green because of how much slope there is.
"You could see Rory aiming at least a cup left from three feet. They severely underplayed how difficult that putt was. Severely."
Kaufman himself is a PGA Tour winner but hung up the clubs after a short career to enter the commentary box.
Despite his experience playing professional golf, Rahm believes that unless you're out there on the course, you can't fully appreciate the difficulty of what needs to be done.
He added:
"I think that can happen a few times where unless you've been there on the golf course and you're playing it or you've played it, it's hard to truly explain how difficult the golf course can be, and a lot of times they only have those five seconds to say something quickly, so I also don't blame them."
While talking to reporters, Rahm also gave an update on his injury, claiming that there was still work to do, but he would be ready to play on Friday.
The Spaniard told reporters:
"The wound is still there. I'm not going to show any graphic pictures, but it's still there. It's manageable now. I'm not going to really make it worse.
"A lot of things to follow up from what happened to make sure it heals properly and it doesn't happen again.
"I feel ready to walk and hit it. I haven't been able to do much.
"It doesn't take much for me to feel ready to compete. Looking forward to it. Just happy that I'm here."
Rahm will have plenty of time to catch up with DeChambeau about his US Open win when the two tee off together alongside Carlos Ortiz at 12:15 on Friday at The Grove in Nashville.
