Pro’s meltdown? It features 3 clubs in tree, swearing — and heroic pregnant wife

We’ve all been there. In some shape or form.

It’s there, then, where we’ll start our story of Joost Luiten. His shape or form began when his tee shot went left on Sunday on the 9th hole on the Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, during the final round of the DP World Tour Championship. To that point, Luiten had been playing average, at best, with rounds of five-over 77, 72 and 69 at the tour’s finale, and he was two-over on 9. 

So he tossed his driver into a tree.

There was more.    

He needed that driver back. Nine-plus holes remained. So he tossed a club toward the tree, in hopes of knocking the driver down. It failed. The club also stuck. 

There was more. 

He needed those two clubs back. Nine-plus holes still remained. At this point, it appears, a DP World Tour social media person captured what came next. In order:

— Luiten threw an iron at the tree, but it — and only it — fell back down, and he caught it. 

— Luiten threw it again, but it — and only it — fell back down, though this time he dropped it. 

— Luiten threw it again — and it stayed. 

— Luiten did a 360-degree twirl. 

— His caddie threw a branch at the tree, but it — and only it — fell back down. 

— Luiten tried to jump at the tree’s branches, only to miss them and nearly fall over. His hat fell off. 

— An official, who had climbed up the tree as this was happening, threw a stick at one of the branches, but it — and only it — fell back down. 

— Luiten tried to swat at the branches with a standard bearer’s sign. It didn’t work. 

— Luiten threw another stick at the tree. It stuck. 

— Luiten swore, we think; the video bleeped out his words. He kicked the bottom of his golf bag. More bleeps. He walked away. 

News

“I had just made bogey at the eighth,” Luiten told the DP World Tour’s website. “I was frustrated, one of those weeks nothing went my way. Lost it, and threw my driver and it got stuck up a tree. That sums up my week nicely.

“I tried to get it out by throwing some other clubs at it and [two] other clubs got stuck up the tree so I couldn’t get them out.”

There was more. 

This is, by far, the best part. 

Luiten played the rest of the 9th with 11 clubs. He bogeyed the hole. 

But according to the DP World Tour’s website, a volunteer rescued all three clubs. 

And Luiten’s wife, Melanie-Jane — who is eight months pregnant with their first child — brought them to him on the 10th hole. 

“I just went on and played the rest of the hole, and one of the volunteers got them out,” Luiten told the DP World Tour’s website. “Otherwise it would have been a funny round to finish with 11 clubs.”

We’ve all been there. In some shape or form.

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

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