Frustrated Jon Rahm hits volunteer in the face after ‘inexcusable’ accident at PGA Championship

Jon Rahm has issued a grovelling apology after accidentally hitting a volunteer during the opening round of the PGA Championship.

The Spaniard finished the opening round at Aronimink one under par, but it wasn’t pretty.

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Beginning his day on the back-nine, Rahm struggled over the course of his first ten holes, before breaking the pressure with an unlikely hole-out eagle at the second.

But that was only temporary relief.

After a poor shot out of the fairway rough at the seventh hole, Rahm took an additional hack at the turf out of frustration.

However, this swing pulled up a chunk of grass that flew through the air, striking a nearby volunteer.

Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of his round, Rahm was quick to apologize for his actions.

“I got a flier on my second shot that went long, it wasn’t a good spot,” Rahm said.

“Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air-swing, just over the grass and I wasn’t looking and took a divot.

“Unfortunately it hit a volunteer… unfortunately it hit him in the shoulder and then the face, which I couldn’t feel any worse for.

“That’s why I was there apologising, and I need to somehow track him down and give him a present because that is inexcusable.”

The divot itself was not visible on broadcast footage, but the reaction of nearby fans said it all.

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This moment has only echoed increasing concerns about the code of conduct at golf’s highest profile events.

Rory McIlroy expressed his frustrations at fans during the opening round, and Sergio Garcia’s infamous Masters meltdown has brought this into question.

PGA of America Chief Championship Officer Kerry Haigh spoke on the growing issue of stars losing their temper during a press conference.

“The player code of conduct is something that has been a collaborative effort among all the majors and the major tours,” Haigh said, via golfdigest.

“We had a number of meetings to discuss the issue and how we could come up with a program that we feel is fair and effective.

“From our standpoint, which is all I can speak from the championship way, we have adopted the code of conduct.

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“If a player does something sort of egregious, unfortunately, we would give a warning to that player, and if they were to do it again, there would be a two-shot penalty.

“And there’s a sort of number of sort of examples in the code that sort of gives us some guidance.”