Ahead of this week’s American Express tournament, Johnson Wagner demonstrated the daunting shot that faces tour pros who find the infamous bunker to the left of the green on PGA West Stadium course’s 16th hole. As usual, the three-time PGA Tour winner provided an entertaining segment that ended with him hitting a “skull shank” to about five feet. However, it didn’t provide any help to one player who found himself in the same spot a couple days later.
First, have a look at Wagner’s segment to get a feel for just how dastardly this trap is:
Johnson Wagner (@johnson_wagner) demonstrates how to play from the dauntingly steep greenside bunker on 16 at the Stadium Course. 😅 pic.twitter.com/NYgvfkKqwH
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 16, 2025
No one ever accused Pete Dye of being a player-friendly architect! And PGA Tour rookie William Mouw will agree after what happened to him there during the second round.
The 23-year-old American opened with a 68 and was cruising at two-under through 15 holes during his second round at the Stadium course – by far the most difficult of the three tracks used for this tournament – when he pulled his approach on the par 5 into the bunker. From there, it was an absolute disaster finishing the hole that included multiple attempts to escape the sand, including an apparent shank.
Add it all up and Mouw recorded a 13. Yep, a full baker’s dozen. And the footage is even more gruesome:
Meanwhile, here’s how it looked on ShotTracker:
Poor guy. A 13 will really ruin a round in a hurry. And things didn’t get much better from there as Mouw found the water on the par-3 17th and made a triple-bogey. So that’s 11-over-par in a two-hole stretch. Ouch.
