HUNTER MAHAN’S CADDY has earned himself an unwanted spot in golfing folklore. With Mahan three shots under the cut line and well positioned on the 18th fairway, Johnny Wood advised his employer to take a swipe at an iron approach some 10 feet away from the rough [though they are calling it scrub-land at Pinehurst].
Mahan found the green, as did his playing partner Jamie Donaldson, but there was one, huge problem. They had accidentally played each other’s balls.
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The error became apparent as the players went to mark their balls on the 18th green, which was their ninth hole of the day during US Open’s second round. They were forced to go back to the original spots on the fairway and play the correct balls. It cost Mahan and Donaldson two shots apiece.
Mahan and Donaldson both carded double bogeys sixes. The American [Mahan] finished on +6 and missed the cut while his Welsh opponent fell away badly and signed off for a two-round total of +11.
Wood fell on his sword following Mahan’s missed cut. He told reporters, “I assumed, wrongly, obviously, that our ball was this one,” he said. “And I walked up to it and I didn’t give it a good enough look. I saw the slash [marking on the ball] and assumed it was ours. My mistake completely.”
Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell feels the tournament may be a one-horse race already as Germany’s Martin Kaymer leads by six at the halfway point. The Northern Irishman, who sits on +1, declared, “No one else is going to get to 10-under. That’s a fact.”
Golfers miss US Open cut after hitting each other's balls on 18
HUNTER MAHAN’S CADDY has earned himself an unwanted spot in golfing folklore. With Mahan three shots under the cut line and well positioned on the 18th fairway, Johnny Wood advised his employer to take a swipe at an iron approach some 10 feet away from the rough [though they are calling it scrub-land at Pinehurst].
Mahan found the green, as did his playing partner Jamie Donaldson, but there was one, huge problem. They had accidentally played each other’s balls.
The error became apparent as the players went to mark their balls on the 18th green, which was their ninth hole of the day during US Open’s second round. They were forced to go back to the original spots on the fairway and play the correct balls. It cost Mahan and Donaldson two shots apiece.
Mahan and Donaldson both carded double bogeys sixes. The American [Mahan] finished on +6 and missed the cut while his Welsh opponent fell away badly and signed off for a two-round total of +11.
Wood fell on his sword following Mahan’s missed cut. He told reporters, “I assumed, wrongly, obviously, that our ball was this one,” he said. “And I walked up to it and I didn’t give it a good enough look. I saw the slash [marking on the ball] and assumed it was ours. My mistake completely.”
Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell feels the tournament may be a one-horse race already as Germany’s Martin Kaymer leads by six at the halfway point. The Northern Irishman, who sits on +1, declared, “No one else is going to get to 10-under. That’s a fact.”
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blame the caddy Golf Hunter Mahan Jamie Donaldson johnny woods Missed Cut US Open US Open 2014