All week at the U.S. Open, players have used Winged Foot’s heaving greens to attempt ridiculous-looking putts. From head-scratching lines to bank shots, the game’s best have battled A.W. Tillinghast’s “man-sized” complexes to varying degrees of success.
Rory Sabbatini has learned the West Course’s incalculable undulation the hard way. Since posting a one-under 69 in his opening round on Thursday, his score steadily worsened with each trip around Winged Foot. On Friday, he barely snuck under the cutline after a six-over 76. On Saturday, an eight-over 78 moved him to the bottom of the leaderboard. And on Sunday, he recorded nine bogeys or worse en route to an 81.
But for all his U.S. Open week struggles, none were more relatable than the one that occurred on the 15th green on Sunday.
Surely, Sabbatini was trying to hit a circus putt of his own as he approached his putt on the 15th, the flagstick beneath his feet some 24 feet away. With no way of stopping the straight-downhill putt at the hole, he probably figured his best opportunity to save a two-putt par would be to get creative. He peered at the large embankment directly beyond the hole and lined up his putt so the ball would funnel off the slope and down toward the flagstick.
Great idea in theory, except for one slight error. On the line Sabbatini took, there was no slope for the ball to funnel down toward the hole. We’ll let Sky Sports broadcasters Wayne Riley and Bruce Critchley tell the rest of the story.
“What on earth is going on here,” Riley said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this shot, ever.”
“Well, you’re about to,” Critchley replied.
Sabbatini struck his putt and watched in disbelief as it traveled in a straight line directly adjacent to the hole.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to laugh,” Riley roared. “That was unbelievable.”
You can check out the video for yourself below.
Sabbatini would need three more putts before finally holing out for a double-bogey. He would go on to finish the day with an 11-over 81, moving to second-to-last in the field at 24 over for the week.
The good news for Sabbatini is twofold. First, he’s far from alone in his putting struggles at Winged Foot this week. On Saturday, Danny Lee six-putted the 18th for a quintuple-bogey 9. Shortly after the ordeal, Lee withdrew from the championship citing a wrist injury.
And second, now that his week at the U.S. Open is over, Sabbatini can return to putting on more sane surfaces.
