Jon Rahm Four-Putts the 16th and Launches His Ball Into the Water in Dubai

Jon Rahm four-putted the 16th hole for a double bogey during the third round of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Saturday, then launched his ball into the water. The two-time major champion dropped from four under to two under in a single hole, birdied the 18th to salvage a one-under 71, and finished the day at three under, six shots behind leader Tyrrell Hatton.

What happened to Jon Rahm on the 16th hole?

He needed four putts to finish a hole he had already reached in regulation, and the double bogey cost him two shots at the worst moment of his round. Rahm had opened the tournament with consecutive rounds of 71 and began the weekend three shots behind halfway leaders Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton, Heavy reports. He gained two shots during Saturday’s round to reach four under, then gave both of them back on one green.

Sky Sports carried the incident as a dedicated video on its site, headlined “Jon Rahm launches ball into water after four-putt double-bogey”, and Heavy reports the same sequence. A four-putt is hard to absorb for any player, and worse for one who had already arrived at the green: the chance to finish the hole had already arrived, and it still took four more strokes.

Why did Rahm throw his ball into the water?

The footage shows the reaction, not the reasoning. After the double bogey, Rahm launched his ball into the water beside the green, and Sky Sports made the clip the story of the afternoon. No explanation from Rahm has been reported alongside the footage, and the timing says most of what needs saying: he had climbed to four under and was pressing the leaders, and one hole undid the whole climb.

It is also the second act of a week that had been going his way. Rahm won in Abu Dhabi last Sunday at 23 under, beating Hatton by two shots in his first start since LIV Golf collapsed, and he arrived in Dubai as the form player of the fortnight. Saturday turned that momentum into a salvage job in the space of a single green.

Where does Rahm stand after the third round?

Six shots behind Tyrrell Hatton, at three under after a 71. GolfMagic reports Hatton carded a four-under 68 to reach nine under and take a one-shot lead into the final round, with Victor Perez second at eight under after a 67 and Mikael Lindberg third at six under after a 69. McIlroy and Eugenio Chacarra are tied fourth at five under, McIlroy after a level-par 72 and Chacarra after a 68.

The table has flipped since last Sunday. Hatton finished runner-up behind Rahm in Abu Dhabi, and now leads him by six with 18 holes to play. Rahm’s closing birdie on the 18th at least stopped the slide: without it, the double bogey would have left him at two under and seven back.

What does this mean for the Race to Dubai?

Rahm is still in the race, but he needs a big Sunday and help from the players ahead of him. GolfMagic reports Chacarra, who leads the season-long standings, is currently projected to win the Race to Dubai title after his 68, while McIlroy can still match Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Order of Merit titles with a victory, or a runner-up finish provided Chacarra finishes third or worse. Chacarra has made a habit of answering pressure this season, leading his home Spanish Open on a fractured toe, and he now needs only to finish ahead of McIlroy and Rahm on Sunday to take the crown.

Rahm’s own arithmetic is the harshest of the three. He sits six shots off the tournament lead and behind both of the men fighting for the season title, so a second Race to Dubai crown would need a low final round and a stumble from Chacarra. The four-putt did not end his week, but it moved the title from something he could chase into something he has to hope for.

Why are the Dubai greens such a talking point this week?

Because Bernd Wiesberger had already called the Dubai greens the worst on tour earlier in the week, and Rahm’s four-putt is now the most visible putting failure on those same greens. The four-putt does not prove Wiesberger right on its own: four-putts happen on the best surfaces in the world, and Rahm reached the 16th green in regulation before the trouble started. But it landed in the middle of an argument the players were already having, and the clip of the ball going into the water will travel further than any quote about green speeds.

That is the part that will stick. A complaint about greens is a press-conference line. A two-time major winner needing four putts and then throwing the ball away is the version of the argument that fans will remember, and it arrives one day before the final round decides the season.

What happens next for Rahm?

Sunday’s final round at Jumeirah Golf Estates decides both the tournament and the Race to Dubai. Rahm needs a low number and a poor day from Chacarra to have any chance of the season title, and he needs to catch Hatton, Perez and Lindberg just to win the event. His Dubai week is his second start since leaving LIV Golf, after he rejected any LIV 2.0 relaunch in a bankruptcy court hearing, and the tour has spent the autumn drawing lines around returning LIV players, so the season finale carries more than a trophy for him.

Whatever Sunday brings, the 16th hole has already defined Rahm’s week. A four-putt and a ball in the water, one week after a 23-under win, is the kind of swing that sums up a season: the same player, the same fortnight, two completely different golfers.