Two-time major champion Jon Rahm has confirmed he has withdrawn from the 124th US Open due to a foot injury.
Rahm withdrew from the LIV Golf League event in Houston during Saturday’s second round because of an infection in his left foot, then arrived for his pre-tournament press conference at Pinehurst No 2 wearing one shoe and one flip-flop.
The Spaniard said on Tuesday he was unsure if he would compete to the injury, which he admitted was a “concern”, then confirmed later that evening he had withdrawn from this week’s major.
In a statement released on his social media, Rahm said: “After consulting with numerous doctors and my team, I have decided it is best for my long term health, to withdraw from this week’s US Open Championship.
“To say I’m disappointed is a massive understatement! I wish all my peers the best of luck and want to thank all of the USGA staff, volunteers and community of Pinehurst for hosting and putting on what I’m sure will be an amazing championship! Hopefully I’ll be back in action sooner than later!”
The world No 8 had been due to tee off at 1.36pm local time (6.36pm BST) on Thursday alongside fellow former Masters champions Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, but will now be replaced in the field by Jackson Suber.
Suber, who has two top-10 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, was the first alternate from the Final Qualifier event in Rockville earlier this month and will now make his major debut.
Rahm’s withdrawal means that there will only be 12 LIV Golf League players in action, where Wyndham Clark returns as defending champion after last year’s one-shot win over Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler arrives as pre-tournament favourite.
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The men’s major season continues this month at the US Open, live on Sky Sports. Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler from victory at Pinehurst?
How has injury impacted Rahm?
Rahm finished tied-45th in his title defence at The Masters in April and missed the cut at last month’s PGA Championship, although had posted top-10 finishes in every LIV Golf League event this season before his withdrawal in Houston.
“Could I have dragged myself out there (on Saturday) and posted some kind of a score? Yeah,” Rahm explained in Tuesday’s press conference. “But it was getting to a point where I wasn’t making the swings I wanted to make, and I could have hurt other parts of my swing just because of the pain.”
Asked how he had suffered the injury, Rahm added: “We’ve been trying to figure it out because I think that the closest term would be a lesion on the skin. If I were to show you, it’s a little hole in between my pinky toe and the next toe.
“I don’t know how or what happened, but it got infected. The pain was high. On the Saturday round, Saturday morning, I did get a (painkilling) shot to numb the area. It was supposed to last the whole round and by my second hole I was in pain already. The infection was the worrisome part.
Jon Rahm was looking for his first worldwide victory since his Masters success last April
“The infection is now controlled, but there’s still swelling and there’s still pain. There’s a reason I walked out here in a shoe and a flip-flop, trying to keep the area dry and trying to get that to heal as soon as possible. But I can only do what I can do. The human body can only work so fast.”
Rahm will be hoping to be fit to return for the next LIV Golf League event, which takes place in Nashville from June 21-23. He is then scheduled to tee it up on home soil at the LIV Golf Andalucia event from July 12-14, ahead of The Open at Royal Troon the following week.
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