He finished strong. On the 18th hole at Wilmington Country Club on Thursday, after chipping on from just over the green, Luke List dropped a 3-foot, 7-inch putt.
Then there were his other putts.
He took 37 more during the BMW Championship first round. He made none longer than the 43-incher at the end. He missed seven putts from within 10 feet. And others rolled it better. All of which played a hand in one of the worst Strokes: Gained putting rounds ever. According to golf data gurus Justin Ray and Rick Gehman (and also noted on Golf Channel), List’s minus-8.574 SG: Putting number ranks as the fourth-lowest since 2004, when tracking began; Kirk Triplett, in 2007, and Joe Durant, in 2008, both had a minus-9.12 total, and Keith Mitchell recorded a minus-8.88 last year at the Valspar Championship (where he said he played with a bent putter).
To note, List ranks 200th out of 202 golfers this season in the category, so putting is not among his strengths. But Thursday was a struggle from the start.
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List three-putted the par-4 1st after hitting to 26 feet with his second shot, then leaving himself 3 feet, 7 inches for par, and he three-putted the par-3 2nd after hitting to 60 feet with his tee shot, then leaving himself 3 feet, 5 inches for par. On 3, he had an 8-footer for birdie and missed, and on 4, he had a 7-footer for birdie and missed.
On 11, he was 16 feet away from birdie, though on the fringe, and took three strokes. On 12, he took three putts from 11 feet and bogeyed. On the par-5 14th, he was home in two and three-putted, missing a 4-footer for birdie. In all, he took 40 other strokes and shot a seven-over 78, tied for last in the 68-man field and 14 shots behind leader Keegan Bradley.
Notably, Bradley, who’s also had his struggles with putting, ranked first in the field in SG: Putting, at 6.250 strokes gained.
Below is a look at Luke List’s putting round:
442-yard, par-4 1st: 3 putts, bogey
Shot 5 in the hole
Shot 4 putt 6 feet, 7 inches, 2 feet, 7 inches to hole
Shot 3 putt 30 feet, 0 inches, 3 feet 7 inches to hole
Shot 2 83 yards to green, 26 feet 2 inches to hole
Shot 1 351 yards to right fairway, 76 yards to hole
207-yard, par-3 2nd: 3 putts, bogey
Shot 4 in the hole
Shot 3 putt 5 feet, 3 inches, 19 inches to hole
Shot 2 putt 64 feet, 0 inches, 3 feet, 5 inches to hole
Shot 1 187 yards to green, 60 feet, 2 inches to hole
572-yard, par-5 3rd: 2 putts, par
Shot 5 in the hole
Shot 4 putt 8 feet, 8 inches, 8 inches to hole
Shot 3 86 feet, 4 inches to green, 7 feet, 11 inches to hole
Shot 2 232 yards to right intermediate, 94 feet, 0 inches to hole
Shot 1 323 yards to left intermediate, 257 yards to hole
416-yard, par-4 4th: 2 putts, par
Shot 4 in the hole
Shot 3 putt 8 feet, 4 inches, 14 inches to hole
Shot 2 91 yards to green, 6 feet, 10 inches to hole
Shot 1 323 yards to left fairway, 92 yards to hole
492-yard, par-4 5th: 2 putts, par
Shot 4 in the hole
Shot 3 putt 20 feet 8 inches, 22 inches to hole
Shot 2 145 yards to green, 22 feet, 5 inches to hole
Shot 1 364 yards to right rough, 153 yards to hole
