Matt Jones uncorks his putter on Saturday on the 11th hole at Bay Hill.
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He picked his ball up from the cup with his right hand, held it there, barely stood up and took both hands and tossed his putter into the water. All in one second.
Well known among his fellow pros for his fast play, Matt Jones appears to be equally efficient at a club toss.
“Matt a little frustrated there,” announcer Steve Sands said on Golf Channel’s broadcast of Saturday’s third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“Whoa,” analyst Peter Jacobsen said.
The manic moment came on the par-4 11th at Bay Hill after Jones missed a 7-footer for birdie.
About halfway through that putt, Jones understood it would miss left, began walking toward it and tapped in one-handed for par. The ball he kept. The putter he did not.
As he walked off the green, Golf Channel microphones picked up Jones saying: “I’m done, I’ve had enough with it.”
“Oh my gosh,” Jacobsen said. “Well, it is the most difficult hole on the course for two rounds so I’ll give him that.”
“Wow, rare show of emotions there from Matt Jones,” Sands said.
The likely culprit? Through the first 10 holes, Jones had not made a putt longer than 5 feet — and that came on the first hole — and on the 9th, he three-putted. For the rest of his round, Jones putted with a wedge.
“I think every golfer out there has had some fit of anger at some point and tossed a club,” Jacobsen said on the broadcast.
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.