Highlights(?)
Players 2023: Watch Patrick Cantlay putt(!) his golf ball into the water
Windy conditions made TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course play even trickier than usual on Friday with water hazards becoming more difficult to avoid and crusty greens being more difficult to hold. And in one stunning case, those two elements combined to bite one of the best golfers in the world.
Patrick Cantlay thought he had successfully avoided the water that guards the fourth green at Pete Dye's diabolical track after finding the right fringe with his approach. But the eight-time PGA Tour winner got a little frisky with his long birdie putt to a back-left pin, and, well, splash. Have a look for yourself:
Ouch. Again, that's Patrick Cantlay. The World No. 4 and maybe the best putter on the planet. Putting a golf ball into the water. Wild.
According to TourCast, Cantlay's attempt from 66 feet wound up going 88 feet and into the drink. After taking a penalty and dropping in the same spot, Cantlay cozied his next effort to about two feet to save double bogey.
At least Cantlay can comfort himself with the knowledge that this kind of thing happens to the best of them. Literally. In the 2005 Masters, Tiger Woods putted into the water on No. 13 during the first round—and he went on to win the tournament.
Cantlay, however, has a lot of work to do for that to happen. Heck, at one over, he might have some work just to make it to the weekend—a weekend where we could see more carnage like this if the conditions remain the same.