produced a momentarily scary moment during his round at the on Saturday when one of his shots struck a fan's head. The Spaniard's approach shot on the 11th hole dragged well wide of the green before bouncing off the sitting spectator, making a noise impossible not to wince at.

When Rahm reached the fan, he spent time apologising with a hug, a handshake and signed some gear for the victim of his stray shot to take home, as well as a potential bump on the skull. The ball had rebounded to the opposite side of the green, and from there, the 30-year-old chipped and two-putted for a bogey, leaving him on four-under.

Most importantly, the fan appeared to be OK and was in high spirits as the action continued at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina.

Rahm had shown promise before the scary incident, starting the third round with a pair of birdies in his first three holes, moving to five-under.

That moved the LIV star two shots from the lead before his bogey on the 11th hole dropped him back.

On Friday, Jhonattan Vegas, who took a two-shot lead into the weekend, was involved in a similarly out-of-the-norm moment.

The Venezuelan player bounced his tee shot on the par-three 17th hole off a rake but landed on the green and rescued a par.

Rahm joined Englishman Aaron Rai in spectator-linked troubles after the latter, on Friday, came agonisingly close to hitting someone watching on.

As the world No. 29 took a shot from the rough on the 16th hole, with a large tree blocking the green, he tried to keep his shot low to avoid the overhanging branches.

However, his mishit effort whizzed uncomfortably close to a group of fans gathered to his right before ricocheting off a tree trunk and into the opposite direction.

Replays showed the panicked spectators rapidly moving out of the way as the low shot cannoned past their knees.

Rahm is attempting to impress Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald as he battles for a place in the team.

And Donald to perform by suggesting the two-time major winner still had work to do.

Earlier this week, he said: "In terms of Jon, he's one of the best players in the world, and I would expect him to be on that team, but I certainly haven't given him those assurances.

"He still needs to keep going and playing just like everyone else. Again, no assurances have been given right now."