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Rahm’s water ball at 11: Is the Spaniard his own worst enemy, or should his caddie have stayed silent?

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Few shots on the course have stunned golf fans and analysts alike more than Jon Rahm’s water ball on the 11th hole while leading the Players Championship on Sunday.

The exchange prior to the shot went viral on social media, which has now been removed by the PGA Tour. With his caddie, Adam Hayes, pleading for Rahm to lay up, the Spaniard pulled rank and proceeded to fire his ball into the water, in a moment of madness which proved a fatal blow in his bid to capture the Players trophy.

Immediately after the incident, announcers called the move “perplexing” as well as explaining how they “didn’t understand any of that,” referring to the seemingly rash decision made by Rahm after what appeared to be a calm and constructive assessment of the situation with his caddie.

Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee went even further than those commentators, calling the fiery 24-year-old’s decision and subsequent water ball “the most baffling decision” in the history of the tournament.

Rahm, however, came to a very different conclusion to what had occurred. With the ball taking a splash, the Spaniard lost his cool and was audibly heard saying “I was so f****** sure the first time,” which could only allude to him believing that his caddie had injected some doubt into his mind, causing the error.

Another water ball at 17 sank his chances entirely, and speaking after the round, Rahm stuck to his guns, believing that he had done the right thing and confirmed how he believed that his caddie’s involvement had hindered him.

“Adam was trying to convince me to go right. When I first got to the ball, I was really sure I could do it. If you give me 10 balls, besides that one, I’ll hit the other nine on land. Unfortunately, I got a little bit of doubt in me.”

Veteran caddie Kip Henley, speaking to GolfDigest, explained that while Hayes and the rest of America knew he was suggesting the right thing, he had no choice but to back down.

“Ninety-eight percent of America looks at that and knows Adam was making the right call. Birdie is great, but par doesn’t kill you, and a good caddie is able to look at the situation without as much emotion as the player.

“The whole time you’re fighting you better be aware where your guy is leaning because if you know he’s not coming over, you need to start backpedaling. You then need to make him feel like it’s a good decision. Everybody does that. You read your guy, and you find a way to change your tune.”

How the incident will affect their future working relationship remains to be seen. But Rahm’s refusal to accept that he may have been better served by listening to his caddie while speaking after the event is only likely to ignite the doubts over the Spaniard’s impetuous temperament.

 

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com

26 Comments

26 Comments

  1. Cebe Jansen

    Mar 21, 2019 at 3:12 am

    Playing strategically is not yet one of his strong points. When he develops this, he will win more regularly.

  2. Dwind

    Mar 20, 2019 at 4:54 pm

    Did Rahm ask for his caddies advice?

  3. Haston Thornton

    Mar 20, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    I am a long time caddie and still do. Our job as a caddie is to give our opinion,not just to carry the bag. Not to try and convinced the player to do what we think is a better play. I would have said if you hit it to the right. You can still make a birdie or par,if you hit the shot you want to hit. We could lose a stroke or two. And I would have listened to his thought’s and probably would not have said another word. Now its up to him and we found out that I had a stroke saving idea. In this crazy game Low Score Wins,period.

  4. Andrew Taylor

    Mar 20, 2019 at 4:23 pm

    I would bet $10,000 that Rahm wouldn’t put 9 out of 10 on the green.. who does he think he’s kidding? Only himself.

  5. hrfdez

    Mar 20, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    At the end of the day, the player is responsible for hitting the shot, period!

  6. Ballzo

    Mar 20, 2019 at 3:25 pm

    I remember seeing that all play out. Before he made the decision to go for it I was thinking to myself how hard that shot looked. Bunker, keep it under the trees, water and draw it 20 yards. Even on TV it looked impossible. I was really shocked when he said he was going to hit it. His caddy did the right thing and he maybe should have done more obviously.

    • OnInTwo

      Mar 21, 2019 at 12:43 pm

      You forgot to add that the wind was against the shot. In other words, he was playing a draw shot into a slice wind. A two club wind, I think. His shot was short by at least that much. As the adage says “Over water add a club or add two balls.”

  7. Jim

    Mar 20, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    If I was his caddie I would look for another bag. Rahm is going to fire you eventually , get the upper hand on him before it is too late.

  8. Rahmbo

    Mar 20, 2019 at 9:41 am

    Never been a fan of Rahm. I don’t understand why so some people would say he’s fiery when it’s a temper problem. Sure the guy has skills but a good role model for golf. Blames everyone and everything else things don’t go his way.

    • Rahmbo

      Mar 20, 2019 at 1:26 pm

      *Sure the guy has skills but NOT a good role model for golf*

  9. dave

    Mar 20, 2019 at 9:18 am

    will be rooting against rahm from now on……when you throw your caddie under the bus for some an idiotic decision you made….

  10. C

    Mar 20, 2019 at 3:13 am

    Why have a caddy who interjects. He should hire a different caddy who doesn’t say anything at all then

    • Peter McGill

      Mar 22, 2019 at 4:32 am

      Then they would be call a Yes Man… not a caddie.

  11. Wizzo1

    Mar 20, 2019 at 2:49 am

    It’s easier for Rahm to choke on that shot rather than lay up and choke from 90 yards away. Now he has an excuse! Choking from 90 yards as a tour player= no excuse!

  12. Crusher

    Mar 20, 2019 at 12:07 am

    Rahm f’ed up, plain and simple. Pure BS that he could 9/10 on land. He needed to land. 1/1 on land and his immense ego cost him the tourney. His caddie was 110% right in his advice so, there should be no hard feelings going forward. What Ram needed to ask himself is this: will this one shot cause me to lose the tournament or win it? At that point in the round, he did not need to make that shot to win the tourney and in fat, all he could do was lose the tourney if he did not make the shot

  13. Crusher

    Mar 20, 2019 at 12:07 am

    Raymond f’ed up, plain and simple. Pure BS that he could 9/10 on land. He needed to land. 1/1 on land and his immense ego cost him the tourney. His caddie was 110% right in his advice so, there should be no hard feelings going forward. What Ram needed to ask himself is this: will this one shot cause me to lose the tournament or win it? At that point in the round, he did not need to make that shot to win the tourney and in fat, all he could do was lose the tourney if he did not make the shot

  14. Brian

    Mar 19, 2019 at 10:57 pm

    Can we please rethink how Spanish golfers are described. Whether it’s true or not, every article about Rahm or Sergio (from every golf writer and commentator on the planet, to be fair) contains the word FIERY or its equivalent. I’m not denying that they don’t show emotion, but I’m not sure why the descriptor is only used for Spaniards; it’s getting tired.

  15. tets

    Mar 19, 2019 at 8:33 pm

    Rahm is a spoiled crybaby … the caddie was right.. layup, wedge on and make par at worst. He hit the shot, he made the call, he should own. He just went to the top of my least favorite sports figure list

  16. geohogan

    Mar 19, 2019 at 7:26 pm

    To settle this, Rahm and Adam should go back to that bunker, when wind is blowing 15mph, left to right, as it was Sunday and let Rahm have his 10 shots at hooking the ball into the wind over the water.
    If he doesnt make the shot 9 out of 10 times, he should apologize to his caddie.

    • Chuck

      Mar 20, 2019 at 1:13 am

      I love this comment.

      As a complete aside… if young Tour players are going to put this sort of inordinate responsibility on caddies, then I am more glad than ever that the Rules of Golf are cracking down on things like caddies lining players up.

    • Radim Pavlicek

      Mar 20, 2019 at 4:09 am

      You cannot win an argument over your wife even if you know you are right…

  17. Alex

    Mar 19, 2019 at 6:58 pm

  18. Robert

    Mar 19, 2019 at 6:09 pm

    Obviously Rahm has not seen the Colin Montgomery video in which Colin says you only hit the shot after you have removed all negative thoughts.

  19. HKO

    Mar 19, 2019 at 4:11 pm

    as much as i believe that any player would have agreed to what the caddie—who’d usually be with a bit more objectivity to the situation in general—had to say, i tent to not care too much about the specific player. what a big deal that he splashed and blamed his caddie for infusing a doubt to his mind? grow the eff up. plenty other players to support and cheer in PGA. moving on.

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