That Hurts

Smylie Kaufman explains how he missed a one-foot putt that possibly cost him a PGA Tour start

May 12, 2021

After bursting onto the PGA Tour with a win in 2015 and a Sunday final pairing tee time at the 2016 Masters, it's been a rough few years for Smylie Kaufman. And a close call this week only added to a growing list of disappointing results.

Emphasis on close.

Kaufman missed a playoff at the AT&T Byron Nelson Monday qualifier by one shot, but it gets worse. That one shot can be easily traced to him missing a one-foot putt. Yep, a one-footer.

The 29-year-old tweeted his explanation for the short miss in response to a photo taken by Ryan French (AKA Monday Q Info) of him looking dejected after missing another putt during his round of 68 at Hurricane Creek CC. Apparently, his golf ball had "accumulated so much water and sand" following a rain delay.

Regardless of the reason, that's pretty rough. Although even with that one stroke back, Kaufman would have had to survive a big playoff.

As it turned out, seven golfers at 67 needed extra holes to resolve the final two of four spots available. Dylan Meyer and Tom Lovelady made it through the playoff, joining medalist MJ Daffue and John Lyras.

As for Kaufman, he has only made one PGA Tour start this year, missing the cut at the Puerto Rico Open in February. His last made cut came nearly two years ago at the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic.