The post After pro’s octuple-bogey 13, comments and jokes were made. Now hear his appeared first on Golf.

The post After pro’s octuple-bogey 13, comments and jokes were made. Now hear his appeared first on Golf.

William Mouw wants to tell a joke. Ten words in all. Mildly deadpanned. 

Saturday, a day after the day where the PGA Tour pro carded a baker’s dozen on a hole, and a day after after the day where the online jokes came faster than you can say octuple bogey, Mouw told the PGA Tour social media team this:

“Let’s start off with I didn’t have a 13 today.”

Golf clap. Well played. 

To catch you up, during the American Express tournament’s second round, Mouw entered the par-5 16th at the Pete Dye Stadium Course at six-under par for the event, and he left it at two-over. After two swings, he was OK. He was about 25 yards out. But a golf-ball-blocking, 18-foot-high bunker wall was now in front of him, and he ripped stroke three over the green. 

Then he pitched back into the bunker. 

Then his ball slapped against the bunker wall and trickled back down. Then he did that again. 

Then he hit back over the green. Then he hit back in. 

Then he hit out to the fairway to the right. Then he pitched over the green. Then he pitched on. Then he putted. Then he putted. 

Thirteen strokes in all. Others, of course, have suffered on that hole. It’s punishing. But each time, folks engage. Why? You’re accident curious, for a whole host of reasons, though primarily it’s this one:

What the hell happened? 

But would Mouw talk? 

Friday, understandably and as far as we can tell, he was left to his thoughts. Saturday, he dished. We won’t get too syrupy about it, but you learn some things about a person in these moments. 

Like Mouw laughed it off. Saturday, notably, he fired a 67, with nine birdies. 

“I mean, people know that bunker and I’m definitely not the first to get captured by that bunker and make a big number and certainly won’t be the last,” Mouw said on a video released by the PGA Tour’s social media team. “It’s something that when it’s happening you just have to laugh at it and accept it and move on and laugh at it. Stuff happens, man. Golf’s a crazy game. And looking at the big picture and seeing things and moving on and having nine birdies today and bouncing back in a positive way is meaningful to me. And that’s how I took it. And yeah, I’m proud of myself. ”

We also gleaned that Mouw knew you were watching. 

On the video, he was shown an Instagram comment. That person complimented him. The text is below.

No club throws, body language remained the same on every shot, didn’t give up, and stayed focused to 2 putt from 60+ feet. Shoutout @williamouw for setting a positive example for the kids – this kid is going to be a total STUD on Tour. 

“That means a lot,” Mouw said on the video. “And kids are looking up to you. People are looking up to you. I have a platform out here, and to use it and set an example for kids and it’s — golf is a lot like life, man. There’s adversity and we as a player and as a student of the game and as a person of life, it’s not about dwelling on adversity and how can you turn adversity into positivity and use that to fuel you to get better and look at the bigger picture. And it’s something I did. You know, I’m glad I made a lot more fans because, you know, I was of the people of that time and I’m happy to set an example.”

Mouw also wears a bracelet on his right wrist. “Never, ever give up,” it reads. Inspirational. Good stuff. 

Just like his joke. 

The post After pro’s octuple-bogey 13, comments and jokes were made. Now hear his appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour pro was 25 yards from the hole. Then came the inconceivable appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour pro was 25 yards from the hole. Then came the inconceivable appeared first on Golf.

Arnold Palmer would likely sympathize. Bob Murphy, too. And J.T. Poston. And Kevin Streelman. And Martin Laird. And seemingly countless others. Even Tip O’Neil, the former speaker of the House. All once stood where William Mouw stood Friday, and all collapsed like Mouw collapsed. He wasn’t alone. His misery had company. 

We’re trying for positives here. 

Because the negatives were numerous. Thirteen strokes, if you’re counting. Then six more.

“Oh my goodness,” an announcer on the PGA Tour Live broadcast said at one point. “What is happening?”

In a sentence, the bunker to the left of the 16th hole on the Pete Dye Stadium Course happened. Its wall is 18-feet high. It blocks more shots than Shaq or Dikembe. You want to avoid it. But after two shots on Friday, Mouw found himself in front of it, about 25 yards from the hole, during the second round of the American Express tournament. And then? Whew, boy. 

— On stroke three, Mouw rocketed his ball over the green. 

Said an announcer on PGA Tour Live: “Oh, that was way too clean. Easy to do.”

— On stroke four, from dormant grass, Mouw pitched his ball back over the green — and back into the bunker. 

Said an announcer: “Oh my goodness. What is happening?”

— On stroke five, Mouw’s ball missed clearing the bunker by about five feet — and it trickled back down. That was his second bunker shot. 

Said analyst Johnson Wagner on the Golf Channel broadcast: “I mean, there’s not more you can do other than chuckle at yourself.” Notably, in a spot for the network this week, Wagner played a shot from the bunker — and skulled one out. 

— On stroke six, Mouw’s ball missed clearing by about two feet — and it again trickled back down. That was his third bunker shot. 

Said Wagner: “Oh boy.” 

Said announcer Steve Sands: “Did he do it again? He did. Oh my goodness.”

— On stroke seven, Mouw cleared the bunker — but again his ball sailed over the green. That was his fourth bunker shot. 

Said an announcer on PGA Tour Live: “Oh my gosh.”

— On stroke eight, from right of the green again, from dormant grass again, Mouw chipped his ball into a small embankment in front of the green — and his ball rolled across the putting surface and back into the bunker. 

Said an announcer on PGA Tour Live as his ball rolled: “Settle, settle, settle, settle, settle.” 

Said another announcer: “Oh my goodness.” 

— On stroke nine, from the bunker for a fifth time, Mouw played his ball to the right of the wall and back into the fairway. The mistakes appeared to be over. 

— They weren’t. One stroke 10, Mouw seemingly miscalculated how firm the green was, hit his ball about five feet short of the flag — and his ball rolled over the green. 

Said a PGA Tour Live announcer: “What are you doing? Mouw, what are you doing?”

— Stroke 11 was a pitch back on. 

Stroke 12 was a putt. 

Stroke 13 was his last of the hole. 

The tally? An octuple bogey on the par-5. He’d taken five shots from the hellish bunker. He’d started the hole at six-under for the tournament, and he left it at two-over. He finished the round at five-over. He started the day tied for 46th and ended it in 106th.

But there was more. 

On the hole after 16, the island-green, par-3 17th, Mouw dumped his first two shots in the water, before finishing with a triple-bogey six.

Others have hit in the drink, too, though. 

The post Tour pro was 25 yards from the hole. Then came the inconceivable appeared first on Golf.