Generally speaking, Tiger Woods is one of the greatest putters in golf history. On the 6th hole at the Genesis Invitational on Friday, however, he was something else.
It was on that par 3 that Tiger faced a putt worthy of striking fear into even the most gifted green reader: a 50-footer around the famed pot bunker located smack-dab in the center of the green.
As he surveyed his putt, Woods knew he was in for a dangerous roll. Play his shot too far wide of the bunker, and he might find himself with 20 feet (or more) for par. Play it too close to the bunker, and he might find himself playing with fire.
Because he’s Tiger Woods, and because he already had very little to lose by playing in this week’s event, Woods figured it was worth playing with fire. But, as so often happens when it comes to playing with fire in golf, Tiger wound up burned.
Immediately off the putter face, Woods’ ball seemed on the wrong line. It started right — too far right — and as it drew nearer to the bunker, it tracked even further in that direction. Finally, his ball approached the face of the bunker and skittered up its left side, but as it began its final ascent, the forces of gravity kicked in. The ball rung around the top portion of the bunker before yanking back, slowly, into the sand.
“That’s in the bunker!” a stunned broadcaster on ESPN+ said.
It was a relatable moment — one almost every amateur has experienced themselves — but the response that followed was not.
Tiger wasted no time marching into the bunker before flipping a wedge shot, his third stroke of the hole, just a few feet from the flagstick. He charged up to the green from there and rolled in his bogey putt — a delicate 6-footer — from the side-door.
It goes down as a two-putt bogey on the scorecard, but those who watched from home know it was anything but.
