We knew Quail Hollow’s vaunted “Green Mile” would claim some victims at this week’s PGA Championship, but what happened Thursday morning was still downright shocking.
The par-4 16th, the first of the difficult three-hole stretch brought all three of the World’s top-three ranked players to their knees. At the same time.
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The super group of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and World No. 3 Xander Schauffele were all cruising along when they got to No. 16. Before we get into what happened, here’s a better look at the 535-yard beast:
McIlroy hooked his drive left and had to pitch back to the fairway. At least, he tried to pitch back to the fairway:
Yikes. That was nearly an injury as well. From there, McIlroy missed the green with his third and couldn’t get up and down. Double bogey.
Scheffler smoked his tee shot down the middle and was in great position. Then he hooked his approach shot into the water:
After a drop, a chip, and two putts, another double bogey.
And then there was Schauffele, who hit an even better drive than Scheffler and then hit an even worse hook on his second shot:
Drop, chip, two putts. Rinse, repeat for a third double bogey. That’s right, the three best players on the planet all made double bogeys. On the same hole.
“I’m just still shaking my head,” ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt said minutes later as the group waited to tee off on No. 17. “Scottie Scheffler made double and he still has honors on the tee.”
So, yeah, we’re off to a wild start at the PGA Championship. Not that anyone’s complaining. Well, unless they bet on any of those three guys.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
