After winning the Masters Tournament in 2023, Jon Rahm has played five very forgettable rounds at Augusta National Golf Club. Thursday’s one was so stressful for him that he almost took it out on his own driver.

After the first eight holes of the round, Rahm was already 2-over thanks to one birdie and three bogeys. His bad day continued on the 9th, where he sent his tee shot completely off the ideal pace and into the trees to the right of the fairway.

Rahm knew from the first moment that his shot was well below expectations. No wonder he dropped his driver almost before he finished his backswing and made a gesture of kicking it as it fell to his back.

Still frustrated, Rahm then made the gesture of breaking his driver against his knee. The entire sequence was broadcast live on television and the video clip was posted on social media.

Rahm’s outburst prompted numerous responses, both sympathetic and condemnatory. One of the latter came from famed former ESPN commentator Trey Wingo.

Wingo shared his thoughts on Rahm’s current career moment with his more than 960,000 followers on X:

“Jon Rahm was literally at the peak of his career before he took the money and ran to LIV. That move.. while making rich beyond his wildest dreams..has absolutely cratered his career and chances to compete in majors,” Wingo posted.

Unfortunately for Rahm, his outburst on the 9th hole didn’t help his fortunes for the round. He finally managed to save par on that hole, but then carded two more bogeys and a birdie to sign his card at 3-over for the day.

The result left him tied for 63rd, 10 shots behind leader Justin Rose and one shot off the projected cut line. Still, Rahm is confident about his chances over the weekend:

“I’m confident. It’s a very difficult golf course,” Rahm said after he finished the round. “It’s going to get harder. If I can get off to a good start, post a round in the 60s tomorrow, then the weekend could be a new story.”

The 30-year-old has not shot in the 60s at the Masters since the final round of the 2023 edition (69). A year ago, he tied for 45th with rounds of 73, 76, 72 and 76.

Jon Rahm signed with LIV Golf in December of that year. In the 2024 season, he won two Saudi-sponsored league events and finished in the top 10 another 12 times, in addition to winning the league’s individual title.

In 2025, he already has five top 10s in the same number of tournaments.

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