British Open 2023: Watch this pot bunker recovery shot defy gravity

HOYLAKE, England — Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity in 1666. Today, Matthew Jordan defied it.

Jordan, a Royal Liverpool member, was the first off at the 151st Open Thursday morning in Hoylake, playing in front of a raucous hometown gallery. The Englishman obliged their presence with a strong start, birdieing the second and fifth hole to grab the early lead. But Jordan’s round threatened to get sideways at the par-4 11th when his approach shot found the lip of a pot bunker. The only shot Jordan seemingly had was to go sideways or bank his ball off the wall.

That is not what Jordan did, instead hitting an absolutely wicked shot that somehow went up and over the pot bunker wall that stunned all those who watched:

That is the type of witchcraft that in earlier times would have led to Jordan being burned at the stake.

Jordan ultimately walked away with bogey, which is the very definition of good bogey, and pocketed a memory that will last long after this championship has ended.

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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.

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