‘Oh my goodness:’ Pro hits shot to within 15 feet — from 372 yards away

Curtis Thompson, on the par-4 8th on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort, hit his drive, it covered about 330 yards, and it rolled about another 30 before settling 15 feet from the cup. The par-4 was playing 372 yards during Friday’s second round of the RSM Classic, and Thompson hit it just about that much. 

“Dogleg right, there’s a big bunker on the corner that he’s just whipped it right over,” analyst Trevor Immelman said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “Oh my goodness. He’s got it all the way onto the green.” 

“Unbelievable,” announcer Whit Watson said.  

Indeed. Thompson’s social media handles are labeled “Bombsquad_LSU,” and you don’t call yourself that by hitting pop rockets. (Or not going to Louisiana State.) 

While the 8th was playing downwind, only Thompson, the older brother of LPGA star Lexi Thompson, covered it in one shot among the 154-man field over the first two rounds. Three players on Friday — Luke List, Danny Lee and Seth Reeves — ended up in the right greenside bunker, and most landed their tee shots either short or just past the fairway bunkers some 270 yards from the tee. 

On Thompson’s tee shot, his ball landed just in front of the green, avoiding the bunker that had gobbled up List’s, Lee’s and Reeves’ shots, took four more bounces and rolled just past the pin and to the left of it. From there, Thompson left his eagle putt 7 inches short — he had read the left-to-right break correctly — and he tapped in for a birdie three.   

It’s worth noting, too, that on his eagle attempt, Thompson also employed the technique of looking at the hole — and not the ball — while putting. Thompson, who gained his PGA Tour card this season by finishing in the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour money list last season, ended his second round with a three-over 73 and a two-round total of four-over, eight strokes below the cut. 

“Looking at the hole there when he hits that putt,” said Immelman, also a former Masters champion.