Jon Rahm just about made the cut on Friday evening at the Masters, not something many would have expected from the defending champion.
His performances so far have been well below par and his frustrations came to a head when he demanded the leaf blowers to clear the green on the par-4 11th. Finding the front of the long green, Rahm faced a monster putt up towards the hole.
It was then, not for the first time, the vicious winds at Augusta on Friday wreaked havoc. Sand from the bunker was blown onto the green as well as various debris from the local trees and bushes.
This was a common occurrence on the eleventh, as well as many other holes at Augusta National, and despite the wind probably doing the same thing again in a matter of minutes, Rahm wanted the green cleared.
The 29-year-old spoke to an official and demanded the two leaf blowers stationed green-side come clear the dancefloor.
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It took around five minutes before a satisfied Rahm placed his ball down and hit his birdie putt - which fell well short. He was unable to hole the lengthy par putt he left himself and eventually bogeyed the hole.
Following the round, Rahm confessed that Friday was one of the toughest days of golf he has endured. He said, in reference to the incident at Hole 11: "Yeah, you just put the ball down, and it's very close to moving. Not only that, how long did it take us to play?
"Over six hours to play just because they had to blow the greens in between groups, and then when you get to a group, people stepping back and back in. It's just, again, borderline. It was very, very close. It's about as hard a golf course as I've seen in a very long time."
Rahm added he was surprised the round was not called off, such were the conditions golfers were playing in. He said: "A couple times questioning myself why we were out there, especially when I got to 18 and saw the whole front of the green just full of sand. It's rolling a little bit different. I understand they want us to finish.
Jon Rahm had a monster putt on the 11th (Getty Images)"I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on 11 green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult. We got it in. Hopefully I can just make up some ground tomorrow."
Rahm's Masters has not quite lived up to the expectations he set himself leading up to the first major of the year. The Spaniard was questioned over whether playing less with LIV Golf would hamper his chances. But the Spaniard shut down that theory.
"It's a change in the schedule in this early time in the year, a little bit more time at home, a little bit more time to train, and it's something definitely to adjust and to get used to, but physically I feel better than last year. Mentally I feel great. Again, my game is trending in a really good direction."
Unfortunately for Rahm, his game trended in the opposite leaving him somewhat red-faced. A bogey on the seventh during Saturday's round put him at 6-over and out of contention to defend his green jacket.
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