In the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2016, Russell Knox hits not one, not two, but three balls into the water before walking off with a nine over par on the par-3 17th hole.
How it unfolded:
Fast facts about Knox’s implosion:
1. He arrived on the tee -8 after 52 holes and five off Jason Day’s lead.
2. He took 3 off the tee before moving to the drop zone.
3. He hit a shank on his second attempt (his third shot).
4. He was -1 on the hole in 10 career rounds before this round.
5. He two-putted for a nine – a sextuple bogey – which is the fourth-worst score ever on the island green. The three with worse scores? Bob Tway (12), Robert Gamez (11) and Phil Blackmar (10).
In his own words:
‘That was an epic fail. Until you’re in that position you don’t understand what it feels like. I thought I hit a good first shot. I thought I’d stuffed it. After that, I mean, it just goes so quickly. It’s hard to describe how you feel. That’s the first time I’ve ever hit it in the water on that hole. The only other time I’ve ever hit it in the water, I did it on purpose the week before the tournament two years ago, because I had never hit it in the water before. That’s the first, second and third time I’ve ever done it.
“It’s such an easy shot when you have no nerves or adrenaline. A pro would never miss that. I mean, we should know what we’re doing. But it’s a different story once you’ve hit two in a row in the water. The green felt like it was the size of a quarter.’
He went back to the scene earlier this week:
We fired up Tiger Woods ’07 with @RooKnox to play the Island Green… on the Island Green. pic.twitter.com/MUIBF92O1C
— Skratch (@Skratch) May 10, 2017
