It was a rude wake-up call for Adam Hadwin. The Canadian pro had the 8:20 a.m. tee time for the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday at Bay Hill, and after a routine par on the 1st, Hadwin stepped to the 211-yard par-3 2nd.
The 2nd has just two bunkers defending it — the most dangerous one in front, and another in the back — and Hadwin’s tee shot found the former.
It looked innocent enough via the ESPN+ TV cameras. Up and down from the bunker to save par? No sweat. He’s done that a billion times. But then he got up to the bunker and panic struck — his ball was nowhere to be found.
Hadwin, Max Homa and their caddies searched everywhere. They were in the bunker, lying on the ground, studying the sand and picking through the thick rough on the bank. It had to be there, they thought, since it’s unlikely it would completely embed in the sand. But it would also have been odd if it had completely embedded in the bank. They kept searching and came up empty.
“Adam’s ball went just above the bunker there,” said Rich Pierson, the director of TV rules and video. “He’s got to find it and he’s got three minutes of search to find it, and the search is going to be unsuccessful. He’s going to have to go back to the tee and replay it.”
Hadwin jogged back to the tee and hit his third shot short of the green. He chipped on and then drained a 14-footer to save double bogey. Hadwin signed for a three-over 75. You can find out how to catch this week’s tournament on TV here.
