Jon Rahm finished with a birdie to begin his US Open title defence with a one-under-par 69 at The Country Club, but he had to deal with his golf ball being stolen on the final hole.
Rahm's tee shot ended up in the rough and two kids picked up his ball and ran off, according to the Spaniard. "Yeah, yeah. Somebody, I'm pretty sure I know who it was," Rahm said on the stolen ball. "I recognized the two kids that were running the opposite way with a smile on their face. I am 100% sure I saw the two kids that stole it."
Rahm was able to replace his ball with no penalty under Rule 9, which states: "If a ball at rest is lifted or moved by anyone or any outside influence before the stroke is made, the ball must be replaced on its original spot."
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The former World No.1 said that a spectator saw where his ball ended up so the process of replacing it was simple enough. "I'm just really happy somebody spotted the ball first. We knew exactly where it was," he said.
"Off the tee I was comfortable. I was past all the trees. It was downwind, and that's why it kind of took -- I wasn't trying to go that far left, but I was trying to take it over the trees and over the bunkers. After the free relief, I had 135 yards to the pin, in an area where the rough wasn't that thick. I don't think they expected anybody to hit it there or be around there, so I was able to drop it in an area that was a little downgrain, and I wasn't in jeopardy of carrying the bunker. That wasn't really a concern."
