There are few things more satisfying for the casual fan than those rare moments pros prove to be mortal on the golf course.
Tony Finau had himself a moment during Saturday’s third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open that every hacker at the local muni course has probably done a hundred times. Yet, it’s something you may see once every few years on the PGA Tour.
After hitting a solid iron to the middle of the green on the par-3 15th hole, Finau understandably missed the long birdie putt. With three feet to go for his par, he pulled it left, rimming it around the cup, with the ball coming to rest two inches to the right.
That’s bad enough, but the worst was yet to come. Because in a fit of frustration every golfer who’s ever picked up a club has experienced, he rushed the backhanded tap-in, barely touching the ball and inexplicably leaving it one inch short.
The result? A four-putt double-bogey that dropped him 12 spots in the standings and a distant 12 shots behind third-round leader Min Woo Lee heading into Sunday’s final round.
The seven-time winner on Tour finished second at this event last year, but won’t be duplicating that performance this weekend.
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The 32nd-ranked player in the world in the current OWGR has now gone 41 events without a win, last holding a trophy at the Mexico Open in 2023.
And mistakes like that can cost any golfer thousands of dollars in prize money, as well as FedEx Cup points and potentially Ryder Cup consideration.
But then again, these things happen, right?
Maybe. But you can probably count the times you’ve seen it on Tour over the last decade on one hand.
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