PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Jon Rahm was forced to defend himself Wednesday at The Open, but not against some questionable course-management decision.

It had to do with a recent outfit.  

Rahm’s mismatched look while sitting in the celebrity-filled Royal Box at Wimbledon drew plenty of guffaws on social media, including from some of his peers like Thomas Pieters.

Asked by a reporter whether he’d seen Pieters this week, Rahm didn’t appear to find the exchange funny. “I haven’t seen him, no,” he said, “and I’m not necessarily going to look for him after something like that.”

And what about that look?

Rahm said the starry number wasn’t his “first choice of shirt to wear,” but the one he wanted wasn’t ready at the dry cleaners.

“Still, you’ve got to wear it confidence,” he said. “I’d rather not go to a Royal Box with a starred shirt, but it’s what I had. I got compliments in the Royal Box. As far as I’m concerned, it was a good day.”