It’s not often that a potential hole-out is thwarted by a player’s own ball mark, but that’s exactly what happened to Sungjae Im at the Players Championship on Saturday.
After making the cut with rounds of 70-72 at TPC Sawgrass, Im was headed in the wrong direction in Round 3, carding bogeys on the par-3 3rd and par-4 6th.
But then came the 7th, a 432-yard par-4. Im was perfectly positioned in the middle of the fairway off the tee after piping his drive 307 yards. Only 126 yards remained to the pin, which was cut on the front of the green.
Im took a well-balanced swing with a wedge, and …
Well, he nearly holed it. (See video above.)
Im’s shot landed just inches behind the pin, took one hop, then began rolling back toward the hole.
Unfortunately, Im’s ball mark was perfectly placed to divert his ball away from the hole. As Im’s ball tracked backwards, it hit the mark, which sent the ball veering off the side, missing the cup. The ball ultimately stopped three feet away from the hole.
Fortunately for Im, he managed to hole the putt for birdie, which seemed to ignite a bit of a run of positive momentum.
Im played his final 11 holes in four under par to finish at 5 under par overall.