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PTSD

DP World Tour pro says the highlights of his horrifying (but victorious) 72nd hole on Sunday gave him nightmares

February 06, 2023

While most of us were distracted watching golf’s glitterati chunk it around Pebble Beach this weekend, waiting eagerly for our Clint Eastwood cameo like Punxsutawney for Phil, the finish of the weekend went down half a world away. There, at Al Hamra Golf Club on the 72nd hole of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, DP World Tour pro Daniel Gavins did his best to throw away a three-shot lead, dunking two in the drink enroute to one of the most miraculous double-bogey “saves” in recent memory. Check it out if you have the guts.

Ron Burgundy has nothing on that glass case of emotion. The wheels come off and then bounce back on again at least three times. Gavins spends the entire hole choking it away and then comes up impossibly clutch with the last swing of his putter. For the empaths in the audience, the highlights are tough to watch, but just imagine if you were Gavins himself.

You have to feel for the guy. He claimed his second-ever DP World Tour title on Sunday, taking home over $334,000 in the process. It was one the finest moments of his career to date, and yet he spent the entire night tossing and turning, dreaming about what could have been. If that doesn’t sum up our little game, what does?

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