The Loop

Watch a high school golfer win a state title thanks to a miraculous shot out of a water hazard

June 02, 2015

On Monday, James Nicholas won the biggest golf tournament of his career. On Sunday, he hit the best shot of his life.

The Scarsdale (N.Y.) senior found himself struggling in the opening round of the New York State High School Championship and found his ball in a pond short of the 17th green at Cornell University's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. He proceeded to do this:

Thank God for video. I would've never believed this James Nicholas fish story. > @St_Nick97 > @MGA1897 > pic.twitter.com/bEI9bt2RJR — lohudgolf (@LoHudGolf) > June 2, 2015

Nicholas couldn't convert the putt, but the brilliant recovery still helped him save bogey and proved to be the difference when he won the 36-hole event by one shot the following day. Had he gone to the drop zone 125 yards away, he would have been almost guaranteed to make double bogey.

Of course, the shot is reminiscent of the one Bill Haas pulled off at the 2011 Tour Championship that also helped him secure a $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.