Patrick Smith

By Joel Beall
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Jon Rahm was reverential to Bryson DeChambeau on Thursday at the Masters, calling a handful of Bryson bombs a “reality check.” On Friday evening Rahm hilariously, perhaps inadvertently, travelled to the other side of the commentary spectrum.

For those who missed Round 2 action from Augusta National, it was a rough one for DeChambeau. The tournament favourite is fighting the cut after making four bogeys and a triple, the latter coming off a lost ball at the par-3 third. After play was suspended Rahm, who is one back of the leaders with six holes remaining in his second round, was asked about DeChambeau’s trials at the third. Rahm’s response perfectly encapsulated Bryson’s struggles, not just at the third in his 30 holes thus far:

Q: Were you involved in the search for Bryson’s ball at all?

JON RAHM: Which one?

My word. Someone check if DeChambeau has withdrawn with first-degree burns.

For the record, once it was clarified the question pertained to the third, Rahm expanded his answer.

“On three, yeah, we were involved in the search,” Rahm said. “I know they found it afterwards, but we must have been close. I mean, when you have Bryson hitting it as hard as he hits it, it’s kind of hooking with not much spin into a soft area, that ball was—we were all confident it was pretty buried and it was going to be hard to find.

“It’s unfortunate that the rules of golf don’t let you kind of figure out it’s somewhere there and keep playing, and he had to re‑tee, and I know that affected him a little bit because he didn’t play his best golf after that. But he’s a fighter and he’s showing it. It was just unfortunate.”

Rahm and DeChambeau will resume play on the 13th hole Saturday morning.

More from Friday at the 2020 Masters
• Tiger Woods loses momentum, but holds on to his green jacket chances
• Abraham Ancer continues to prove that he’s a big-time player, he’s just missing one thing
• Bryson DeChambeau in danger of missing cut after disastrous third hole
• Jon Rahm hilariously (perhaps inadvertently) burns Bryson DeChambeau with two simple words
• Rory McIlroy had about as terrible a Friday morning as you could imagine at Augusta National
• Why these five guys are going to have an especially restless Friday night in Augusta
• Brooks Koepka’s play has been ‘super sloppy’ and he can still win
• Alert! Augusta National legend Jeff Knox has been called into action earlier than usual this week!
• Justin Thomas broke his odd Masters curse
• Bernhard Langer keeps building on the sneakiest good record in Masters history
• Bryson DeChambeau lost his ball in Augusta’s second cut, which we all figured was impossible
• Why you shouldn’t be surprised about Rory McIlroy’s up-and-down start at Augusta
• What you think about Dustin Johnson says more about you than him
• Who needs a driver at Augusta? Danny Willett cracks his, uses 3-wood off tee and shoots career low
• How the 36-hole cut is determined at Augusta National
• Bernhard Langer has become the oldest golfer to make the cut in the Masters