WATCH: Pro’s disastrous 4-putt from 5 feet derails hot U.S. Open start

Brian Harman, as he walked off the par-4 6th at Torrey Pines on Saturday, took a longer-than-normal look at the cup. 

He had, after all, taken longer than normal to get to the bottom of it.

During Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open, Harman hit his drive down the right side of the fairway, dumped his approach into the right greenside bunker and pitched on to 5 feet, 5 inches. Three shots. But Harman would finish with a 7. Four putts. 

The first putt burned the left edge of the hole. It went 8 feet, 2 inches. He’d have 3 feet for bogey. 

The 3-footer coming back burned the right edge of the hole. It went 4 feet, 3 inches. He’d have 1 feet, 3 inches for double bogey. 

The 1-foot, 3-incher coming back hit the right edge of the hole, and it spun nearly 360 degrees. It went 1 foot, 10 inches. He’d have 11.2 inches for triple bogey. 

Harman would hit the final putt maybe a half-second after the last stopped rolling. In. Finally. He had started the hole at two under and finished at one over. According to the NBC broadcast, it was the seventh four-putt of Harman’s career. 

“And that is what can happen at a U.S. Open,” analyst Gary Koch said on the broadcast. “Off line just a little and you pay the price. So from one under and a great start, now plus two.”  

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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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