Golf isn’t a cruel game, though sometimes it may seem like it. In fact, it doesn’t care one way or another about you. It just adheres to the strict laws of physics regardless of how bad your week is going, what bounce you got five holes ago, or the fact that you were about to break 90 for the first time. It just ploughs unhead, unthinking and unblinking, and if you happen to be in the way, well that sucks for you.
Just ask Tom Hoge. Hoge, unlike you and me, is a professional golfer. He may not be the biggest, sexiest name in the field, but he is in the 95th percentile of people doing what he does on earth. That’s pretty good. You might think that earns him some leniency from the golf gods. You might think it entitles him to a get-out-jail-free card here and there. As this brutal miss in the first round of the 3M Open proves, however, sometimes being very, very good at golf is worth nothing, nada, zilch.
Prayers up for Tommy Boy. One second he’s staring down a short putt for birdie, the next he’s watching his ball snap harder than Brooks Kopeka being asked about LIV Golf. There’s been no shortage of bad breaks, crappy lies and outright robberies on tour this season, but this one takes the cake. Blame it on the pin position. Blame it on the wind. Rationalise it anyway you like, but that’s just the game we play.
