For what it’s worth, Kevin Na took 14, nope, 15 — wait, 16! — strokes pretty quickly on the par-4 9th at TPC San Antonio. Known for his deliberate pace of play, Na sped things up when he got lost in the woods during the first round of the Valero Texas Open. He pushed his first drive into the junk, declared it unplayable, and went back to the tee only to knock it in the same place. After thrashing it out, including hitting himself and whiffing it, he carded 16 strokes.
Good news is Na had a sense of humor about it, turning to his caddie and saying, “How are we going to count all those shots?” Even better news? Na happened to be mic’d up for the meltdown as Golf Channel’s spotlight player. “I think I made somewhere between 10 and 15 but I think it’s close to a 15,” said Na after his round. “They gave me 14 in the beginning and it sounded about right. After the round they said 15. We went and checked the camera. I counted it myself, it was 16 so I just signed for a 16.”
Aside from the “other,” Na shot four-under on his round, including five birdies and a bogey. He managed to rebound from the double-snowman (apparently, it’s called a duodecuple), posting three-under on the back nine.
Credit Na for his tenacity! — not to mention he handled the whole debacle with a good attitude.
“I think I handled myself pretty well,” said Na. “My play just shows that — three-under on the rest of the way in, whatever I did. I hit a lot of good shots and didn’t make another bogey afterwards. It just shows you how well I took it.”
Na shot 80.
Asked to explain where his ball hit him, Na said, “In the inner thigh, but the shocking thing was I hit it and I felt like it hit me so I looked at my caddie, I said, ‘I think that just hit me,’ and he goes, ‘How does it hit you and end up behind you?’ But I thought it hit me but I wasn’t sure because rocks, branches, but it definitely hit me.”
Oh, and for the record, Na’s 16 wasn’t the highest in PGA Tour history. In 1998 John Daly pulled a Tin Cup and posted an 18 on 6th hole at Bay Hill. Ray Ainsley took 19 shots on the par-4 16th hole at Cherry Hills in the 1938 U.S. Open.
I can’t find those on YouTube, but here’s John Daly making an 11 on the par-4 8th at the 1999 US Open at Pinehurst.
Na is a pro golfer – he has to know the rules for an unplayable lie. And he has to be able to count his score.
This reliance on rules officials is why pro golfers are taking 5 hours to play 18 holes and why watching most pro golfers is becoming about as much fun as watching paint dry.
How about a one shot penalty for each player in a group for every 10 minutes taken over 4 hours (two ball) and 4 hours 20 mins (three ball)?
The funny part? It didn’t take him any longer to finish the hole than it normally does. I guess there wasn’t enough room in the woods for his caddy to get behind him and line him up, or plumbob the tree roots. He may have had a smile on his face, but he handled it like any of his other hotheaded blow ups. If he had actually just taken a second and thought about what he was doing instead of just whacking away at it, he probably could have gotten out with an 8 or 9 instead. And why on Earth did he re-tee with driver, the same club that put him in the trouble to begin with? He could have hit a pitching wedge off the tee the second time and ended up with a better score. I think there is some karma at play here.
All credit to Na for not mailing in that back 9 and withdrawing. Showed some nice bounce back ability to shoot a 33 on the back. Would have been very easy to do. Also, for standing up and talking about it with the press. Has to have been embarrassing.
It’s no secret I’m no fan of NA’s slow play and his response to such criticism, but I got to give it to him for laughing at himself throughout the whole thing. $H*t happens and what can you do? Kudos for 3 birdies on the back nine.
I couldn’t watch. This hits too close to home.
I agree with the fact that one should credit Na for his tenacity. After making such a high number, it would have been very easy for him to give up on his round in a variety of ways.
Fortunately, he showed some perseverance and tenacity and posted the big 80. He played very well outside that one hole, but with near certainty of a missed cut, there really was no pressure for him to perform well or put on a good show other than for the fact he was mic’d up.
Looking back, there are not too many players that can say they improved 12 shots on a single hole from one round to the next!
Yes I was watching this last night. My worst score was a 12 on a par 5 several years back. Na topped this with a 16. At least he managed to keep his sense of humour about the whole thing.
I think I could give him some tips on getting out of the trees. These pros just don’t have enough experience in playing from them like us hacks.
IIRC, Na sped through the round, in a record for him – 3.5 + hours.
Conversation with caddie was understandably testy.
Anyone know if that was his regular bagger or did he pick up a caddy there ?
Finally some justice. So frustating see the pro’s hit it 60 yards off-line and still have a clear shot to the green. Most courses I play it’s one hop and into a jungle. Lucky to find it let alone play it.