Putts that drop off the green. Four of ’em. Including one into the water. Shots that can best be described by another ‘S’ word. A 10. And a five-chip.
While PGA Tour players may be without equal in golf, even they, too, are prone to hit shots usually found in your weekend foursome. With one exception. These hiccups, unlike many of yours and mine, are often frozen on film, stored for just the right moment and then re-released, alongside words that say something like: “A reminder from 2021: Golf is hard.” And from the social media account of the organization they play for, no less.
Which brings us to this: If your bag is confirming that, yes, the pros, they’re just like us, then you’ll enjoy the video below. If not, it might be worth a watch, too. File it under: What not to do. Or ways not to play.
With that, let’s review. The first clip is from the Genesis Invitational in February, when Keegan Bradley, from 59 feet below the hole, putted it some 40 feet past it and completely off the green. (To his defense, the wind at his back was so strong, that it forced play to stop.) The putting-off-the-green theme continues in the fourth, sixth and eighth videos, where J.T. Poston (at the WGC-Match Play in late March), Rory McIlroy (at the Hero World Challenge in December) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (at the Bermuda Championship in late October) also miss more than the hole. So bad was Poston’s putt that it went into the water — and led to this comment from his caddie, Aaron Flener:
The second high(low?)light is from the Players Championship in March, when Brendon Todd, on the infamous island green, nearly shanked one onto the other island green, which is well right of the intended one. “Listen to him,” NBC analyst Gary Koch said at the time. “He just just dropped the club and laughed.” Also misfiring are Justin Rose in the fifth video (at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March), and Billy Horschel in the seventh video.
The third shot, or shots, are from Phil Mickelson at the Texas Open in late March. There Phil Mickelson, about two months away from winning the PGA Championship, played his hole like this, as recorded by the Tour’s online leaderboard:
Shot 10 in the hole
Shot 9 89 ft 5 in. to green, 15 ft 8 in. to hole
Drop in left fairway, 78 ft 8 in. to hole
Shot 8 Penalty
Shot 7 5 ft 7 in. to rock outline, 28 ft 11 in. to hole
Shot 6 5 in. to right rough, 24 ft 1 in. to hole
Shot 5 5 in. to right rough, 24 ft 3 in. to hole
Shot 4 47 ft 8 in. to right rough, 24 ft 4 in. to hole
Drop in left intermediate, 70 ft 4 in. to hole
Shot 3 Penalty
Shot 2 273 yds to water, 46 ft 8 in. to hole
Shot 1 306 yds to right fairway, 269 yds to hole
Last, though maybe first if you enjoy carnage, is the five-chip, from Sam Burns at the Hero. Tied for the lead entering the hole, he nearly drove the green, one-putted — and melted down in the middle. Which also led to this self-evaluation: