A week ago, he was suffering from an infection between his toes. The unfortunate injury caused Jon Rahm to pull out of the Houston event while announcing his intention to withdraw from the U.S. Open. A week later, at the first round of the Nashville event, the golfer seemed to be struggling. But Saturday saw a completely different Spaniard.

The 29-year-old was spotted in an interview after the second round of play at The Grove. Rahm, meanwhile, came out candid on his injury when queried about the same, all the while divulging what actually made the difference on Saturday.

Jon Rahm reveals the status of his injury

“I played nearly 18 holes pain-free,” divulged the 2023 Masters champ at the press conference, “That’s probably why I hit it so much better.” He went ahead to recall how the injury bugged him a bit on Friday before admitting how he didn’t try to think of it on Saturday; “Yesterday it bugged me a little bit, and it’s just in the back of your head for a second, at least it was yesterday, but not today. Never really questioned not being able to swing it, and I think that’s what made the difference.”

This was evident in the golfer’s gameplay, as he could only finish tied at T20 with 11 other athletes owing to a score of 70 (-1) on the first day. But come Saturday, Rahm was able to card a total of nine birdies and a single bogey to put up a score of 63 (-8) and place himself tied for T3 with Bryson DeChambeau. It looks like his leg is all better now and poses no concern for his future schedules.

If the injury has almost healed by now, then the question naturally arises; What was the athlete’s issue yesterday other than it being in the back of his mind? Well, Rahm came out candid regarding the same while mentioning how he had trouble walking the 18 holes; “I hit balls in my simulator at home on Monday before flying on Tuesday, and I had the speed. The only question was walking 18. Yesterday towards the last four or five holes, I started noticing that a little bit.” The 2-time major champ had carded two bogeys and a birdie in the last five holes, causing him to fall down to 1-under after the day’s play.

It’s not as if no problem is without a solution. The LIV Golf Pro, after understanding the issue, took remedies to make sure he was able to dish out his best on the course on Saturday. And dish out the best he sure did!

Rahm’s solution that helped him finish T3

“I did a pretty good job of mitigating that,” said the pro while referring to the issues he faced yesterday while walking the course. He did so by drinking a lot of fluids and eating a lot of food in the morning. “But today, tried to hydrate a little bit more in the morning and maybe get a little bit more food in me to account for that.” That sure did help him out, especially on the last seven holes he played from the par-4, 17th, to the par-3, 5th (He had teed off on Saturday from the par-4, 6th), where he carded a total of five birdies.

That’s not all. He even disclosed how playing more golf helped him get better at the sport while recovering. “I feel like the more I play, the more comfortable I’m going to get with it,” confessed Rahm before expressing belief in himself. “I’m always confident I can shoot low. I just didn’t know how it was going to play out.”

He sure did turn a lot of heads by making a scintillating comeback on the greens. The community, for sure, will agree with DeChambeau’s words, which he said in the post-round presser, “He played great today, and hats off to him for coming back after yesterday.”