Including disaster at the 17th: Seven strokes on three holes cost 1.4 million dollars

Taylor Montgomery is playing his first season on the PGA Tour and doing a good job. Already four top ten results this season and so far best prospects to keep his tour card. At the Players Championship, the 28-year-old was on the verge of collecting the biggest cheque of his career so far. At ten under par, he was in the top five with four holes to go. With four pars, he would have finished third and, like Tom Hoge and Viktor Hovland, would have collected 1.475 million US dollars in prize money.

Bogey, double-bogey, triple-bogey

But no Players Championship is complete without drama on the 17th! The legendary island green finally ruined the day for the American. But the misfortune already began on the 15th hole, where Montgomery still managed to get away with a bogey after a weak bunker shot. On the 16th – the par-5 is one of the easiest holes on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass – the next bad news: a double bogey. Now his stroke gains were used up and he was back at even par for the final day. But the real fiasco was yet to come.

The legendary 17, the island green, one of the most iconic and famous holes in the world of golf, cost Montgomery another four strokes. First, he sank his tee shot into the water on the short par-3, which is particularly nerve-racking but always unpredictable because of the wind, which is difficult to assess. Then, after the drop, the second attempt was also too long and landed in the water. Visibly shaken, the man from Las Vegas rushed down the leaderboard. At least he managed a halfway conciliatory finish with a par on the 18th. Hopefully he will spend the 75,000 US dollars in prize money for 44th place on something that will make him forget the disaster.

Taylor Montgomery finds the water twice on 17.

+7 in three holes moves Montgomery from T6 to T44. pic.twitter.com/F0qvrInG34

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 12, 2023