Jon Rahm: The return of fans at 2021 Players is nice, but there’s always that one group …

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jon Rahm is like nearly every PGA Tour player in that he missed the presence of fans on-site at tournaments. This week’s Players Championship has the largest fan footprint since the restart nine months ago – attendance is capped at 20% – and Rahm is enjoying the additional energy the spectators provide.

“You can feed off the crowd – that’s a thing, right?” he said. “I’m glad they’re back. Hopefully we can keep having them.”

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But the Tour is still likely several months away from full attendance, and a sizable-but-not-large crowd creates an interesting dynamic: Together, they can create a roar … but the one-liners and jeers are easily heard, too.

“On every hole on every group, there’s the one group of five people that have missed being out here and they’ve been thinking for a whole year of something to say when we hit a shot, and that’s what they absolutely have to yell every single time,” Rahm said. “They want to be heard. And I don’t blame them. There’s always somebody like that, I think, that’s just taking advantage of the last time.”

Bryson DeChambeau said someone in the crowd always asks him how many protein shakes he’s downed that day – and he almost always replies.

“I’ve had probably four,” he said after his round. “And, you know, I’m losing weight having that many, too, by the way.”