[Photo: Getty images]
Jason Day has drawn the ire of the internet by deciding to chip – yes chip – his second shot from the green at the par-3 16th at Augusta National late in his round at the Masters.
Even one of golf’s best ever short games was not enough for social media users to criticise Day for risking damage to the turf on the iconic 16th green as you’ll see below.
Day left his tee shot up on top of the shelf and believed his putt would gather enough speed to go into the water beside the green, so he chipped off the putting surface in attempt to get backspin. While that worked, he left himself over six feet for par and missed it to drop back to five-under-par and five shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
After shooting 71 to climb a stroke to five-under-par on day three at the Masters and seven shots behind McIlroy, Day explained his decision to chip. Watch the video below Day’s explanation:
“There’s one green that I — there’s a couple of greens out there that I think are too severe. That one I actually hit a pretty good shot going into the green. I mean, a yard left and it’s down the hill and you’ve got a birdie opportunity, and you’re standing on the green thinking, well, if I putt it the best chance I’ve got is 10 feet other than if I hole it.
Try and take the first two yards of the green out of play which is the most severe and then land it with a little bit of cut spin so hopefully it kind of cuts back into the slope and then dribbles down. I actually hit a pretty good chip, just a little bit high, and then the second putt was good. I just didn’t hit it hard enough.”
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