Jon Rahm Withdraws from Players Championship With Illness

Rahm is the No. 1 ranked player in the Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, and did not tee off to begin his second round.

Bob Harig | Mar 10, 2023

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jon Rahm, the No. 1-ranked player in both the SI World Golf Rankings and OWGR, withdrew from the Players Championship on Friday afternoon due to illness.

Rahm, who has won three times in 2023 on the PGA Tour, opened the tournament with a 71 and was grouped with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who were scheduled to see off for the second round at 12:56 p.m.

After a stretch of 10 straight worldwide tournaments with no finish outside of the top 10 and five victories dating to August, Rahm finally had a rough week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where consecutive rounds of 76-76 resulted in a tie for 39th.

His next scheduled start is the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in two weeks.

Published Mar 10, 2023

BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.