Kevin Na sets new record at Valero

[Pickerjohn]

After thinking he's carded a 15, he reviewed it before signing his card and

found out it was a 16, a new record for a par 4 hole on the PGA Tour.

An errant drive into the right woods, unplayble, back to the tee, only to hit

into the same spot again, and attempt to punch it out resulted in the

ball hitting a limb and bouncing back into him (add 2), 5 more shots to get it

out and a smooth 16 on the card, To his credit he shot 3 under on the back

for an 80.

BTW, John Daly's 18 on the Par 5 6th at Bay Hills a few years ago is the record

for highest score period, he's had 10 scores in double digits on a hole on the PGATour.

[mudfish]

here is a full article I just read...

 

I gotta say though scoring an 80 after that is impressive...

 

Kevin Na had just had a struggle from underneath a tree at the par-5 8th hole, when he arrived at the tee of the par-4 9th hole at the TPC San Antonio in the opening round of the Valero Texas Open. Little did he know what was about to happen.

 

Na hits his tee shot well to the right. Way right. It goes into the woods – deep brush, filled with thorny branches and dense, small trees. Miraculously, Na and his caddie find the ball, but decide there's no way that they can properly play the ball to get it out of the forest. So they head back to the tee.

 

Then Na hits his second tee shot. It may as well have been an instant replay of the first. He drops his club to the ground instantly in disgust (which disgusted me). It's deep right again.

 

Just for good measure – in case of a lost ball, not an unplayable lie when he finds the second tee shot – Na hits a half-decent provisional, although that went left.

 

Na and his caddie find the ball in the woods. He lies three, hitting four. He and his caddie assess that there's a “50/50 chance” of getting out with a pitched 7 or 8-iron. Na decides he's gonna hit.

 

Whack. The ball hits a tree in front of Na, then something else, and lands behind him. That something else was Na's pant leg.

 

“Unless that was a branch that came up,” Na said to his caddie, “that was the ball.”

 

The two bring in a rules official to explain. Over the radio, a Tour official tells Na, “It appears from television the ball did strike you.”

 

That's a penalty stroke. Now, he's hitting six. But from there, he can't hit the ball. So he takes an unplayable lie and moves back two club lengths. Up to eight.

 

He hits his eighth. The ball goes forward, but deeper into the woods on the right. Na walks up to the ball quickly, takes a left-handed stance, and whacks at it again for nine. That moves about four feet. Then he hits his tenth shot from the right side. It goes forward, but still about the same depth in the woods.

 

Na is pacing quickly now. He finds his 10th shot and whacks at it. This time is goes backward as Na yells, “Oh, come on!” to the ball.

 

Finally, with his 12th shot, Na gets out of the Woods to somewhat relieved, somewhat sarcastic applause.

 

With prickly thorn in his clothing and likely some tears (not crying, but rips) in his shirt, Na gets green side from 108 yards. He gets up-and-down for 15.

 

At that point, what can you do but smile? Withdraw?

[Tony Covey MGS]

This post really needs accompanying video.

 

And so here it is:

 

[MmmmmmBuddy]

This post really needs accompanying video.

 

And so here it is:

 

Why in world would you ever choose to play out of that stuff?

[harrison101]

good for him for keeping a calm demeanor he was wearing a mic and didn't say anything you couldn't play on TV classy.

[daves81]

I could totally see myself shooting that or worse

[daves81]

I could totally see myself shooting that or worse

[mudfish]

At some points in the video I thought David Attenborough should be narrating... Looked like a nature documentary...

[72strokes]

Na managed to keep his tee shot in play today on the 9th. He hit it into the right hand rough, which I'm sure caused a momentary flashback as he saw the ball moving right. He made par, but his 77 didn't get him anywhere near making the cut.

[BIG STU]

I saw the whole video on TV a couple of times but he was laughing through it all. I can have symphaty for him. I once made a 11 on a par 5 in a pro mini tour event. To be honest you could have fried a egg on my head but I maintained somehow. My dad once told me that if you hit one ob and retee do not hit that driver on that next shot. I wish I had taken his advice on that hole when I made the 11. Live and learn

[harrison101]

I think we can all have sympathy for the poor guy he made it through a pretty rough ordeal where i'm sure a lot of people would have thought about snapping a club over their knee but he took it will stride and ended up with an 80 for the day not bad.

[skihippy]

I got all kinds of sympathy for him. I think we have all been there, just in our case we drop a ball and keep playing. On the same side though this is why I love the game. Even pro's have bad days just as we do.