Kevin Na watches his par putt slowly roll away on the 16th green on Saturday at Augusta National.
Masters.com
Kevin Na bogeyed the par-5 15th hole at Augusta National on Saturday at the Masters, but things got much worse on the 16th.
The pin of the par-3 was perched on the front-right of the green, one of the highest points, but Na’s tee shot on the 170-yard hole landed in the middle of the green and rode the slope away from the hole, toward the water.
Na had an uphill 42-footer for birdie, and he blasted it well past the hole and nearly off the green. Now he had a delicate downhill 12-foot putt to save par. That’s when the trouble started.
Na hit it with a little too much steam, and a tricky pin position mixed with some quick afternoon greens did the rest. The ball rolled past the cup and slowed down, but Na, based off his reaction, knew what was coming next. It kept rolling.
“Oh no, no, that’s gone,” said Nick Faldo on the Masters telecast.
He was back where he started and had 47 feet for bogey, which was farther away than his birdie attempt. This time he nestled it to five feet away, then pushed his double-bogey try out to the right. He tapped in for a five-putt and triple-bogey 6.
Na was one over for the tournament at the time, but that pushed him to four over. He added another bogey on the 17th to shoot 79, which followed back-to-back rounds of 71. He’ll enter the final round five over and tied for 34th.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.