‘In-the-water birdie’: Pro banks shot off floating sign for miracle 4 at 3M Open

If you play golf long enough, you’ll get your share of good and bad bounces, and good and bad breaks. PGA Tour pro Patton Kizzire has certainly played golf long enough, and he earned one of the luckiest breaks you’ll ever see at the 2025 3M Open when his shot, destined for the water, ricocheted off a floating sign and ended in a miracle birdie.

Floating sign turns Patton Kizzire’s penalty into birdie

On Friday at the 3M Open, Kizzire was fighting to make the cut. He opened the tournament with a two-under 69 on Thursday, but with the cut line projected at five under, he needed another good round to play the weekend.

He opened Round 2 on the back nine and quickly made birdies at 10 and 12 to move to four under and approach the magic number. But bogeys soon after at 14 and 16 sunk Kizzire back to two under.

He’d need to play his best golf the rest of the way to survive the cut and earn two more tee times, and thereby give himself an outside shot at making the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The par-5 18th hole presented a perfect opportunity to take his chance. When his 320-yard bomb off the tee found the fairway, Kizzire had the full green light to go for the green in 2.

Only 233 yards separated him from the putting surface. That and a large pond guarding the green with a circular 3M Open sign shaped like a golf ball floating on it.

Thanks to the pond, he’d need to fly his ball all the way to the green to set up an eagle try. But from contact, Kizzire’s shot never had a chance. He mishit his approach so badly, that it was bound to fall at least 20 yards short of the green and plunge into the watery depths.

But as the TV cameras followed his ball, it didn’t wind up in a watery grave. Instead, it landed directly on the floating 3M Open sign. It then took a huge bounce off the sign, soaring safely over the water and long and right of the green.

Taking advantage of the miracle break, Kizzire chipped on from the rough and then sank his putt for an unlikely 4.

The Golf Channel booth put it best: “That was an in-the-water birdie for Patton Kizzire.”

Check out the entire sequence of events in the video below.

Unfortunately, the incredible birdie wasn’t enough to push Kizzire over the edge. He finished the second round with a one-under 70 to get to three under for the tournament, two shots short of the cut line. He’ll be heading home from Minnesota early, but he’ll probably remember this week for a long time to come anyway.