Star Metro - Rahm uncertain for US Open with left foot infection

"As to right now this week, I don't know," Rahm said Tuesday.

"It's a concern. It's doing better. But definitely still in pain."

Rahm is scheduled to start his opening round on Thursday at 1:36 p.m. off the first tee at Pinehurst alongside Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and American Jordan Spieth.

World number eight Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion and 2021 US Open winner, appeared in pain after a tee shot in Friday's opening LIV round.

"Could I have dragged myself out there and posted some kind of a score? Yeah," Rahm said. "But it was getting to a point where I wasn't making the swings I wanted to make and I could have hurt other parts of my swing just because of the pain."

Just figuring out the problem took time and hasn't totally solved the issue.

"We've been trying to figure it out," Rahm said. "I think that the closest term would be a lesion on the skin. It's a little low in between my pinky toe and the next toe.

"I don't know how or what happened, but it got infected. The pain was high. Saturday morning, I did get a shot to numb the area. It was supposed to last the whole round, and by my second hole I was in pain already.

"The infection was the worrisome part. The infection is now controlled, but there's still swelling and there's still pain."

To that end, Rahm was wearing a flip-flop on his left foot rather than a shoe.

"Trying to keep the area dry and trying to get that to heal as soon as possible," Rahm said. "But I can only do what I can do. The human body can only work so fast."

The 29-year-old Spaniard has not won since he jumped from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf last December. He shared 45th at the Masters and missed cut at last month's PGA Championship.

"Anytime I tee it up, I feel like I have a good chance," Rahm said.

Rahm called the unique Pinehurst sandhills layout with domed greens, native areas and sprawling wiregrass a "bucket list golf course" after practice rounds last week.

"It's definitely a golf course where you need to know where to miss more than most," Rahm said. "There's spots to every pin location that are easier than others. I don't think any up-and-down is easy around this golf course, but there are spots where you have a better chance.

"For the most part, if you're short of the green, somehow you're going to have at least an uphill shot. Once you get past the pin on a lot of holes is where it gets tricky."

Rahm said if he does play, he will be aggressive in committing to shots, if not in how he attacks the course.

"You need to really pick a target to where you want that ball to end up and be committed and aggressive to that spot," he said. "A lot of times that's going to mean playing away from the pin and playing to the center of the green."

L.Pelletier--SMC