The boomerang par-5 sixth at Bay Hill is one of the most exciting holes the PGA Tour takes on every year. Who could forget Bryson DeChambeau’s daring drive during the third round in 2021 to set up an eagle on his way to winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational? The King himself would have loved that.
For every tale of triumph at No. 6, though, there’s usually a sad story—with a wet ending. That’s certainly been the case the first two days of this year’s event with PGA Tour stars like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, and Collin Morikawa finding the drink. But no one had a bigger disaster than Tommy Fleetwood.
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The Ryder Cupper was already having a rough day when he reached the sixth with three bogeys in his opening five holes. But after a promising tee shot, he had a great crack at the green in two to get some momentum going. Instead, he wound up ending his week early.
Fleetwood found the water from 236 yards. Then after dropping, found it again from closer range. And then, again. Yep, an entire sleeve of golf balls in the lake. Here’s how the meltdown looked on Shot Tracker:
The 6th at Bay Hill was not kind to Tommy Fleetwood. 😬 pic.twitter.com/vYAyHLbqFw
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) March 8, 2024
Yikes. Add it all up, and Fleetwood’s quintuple bogey TEN put one of the pre-tournament favorites well outside the projected cut line. Cue the ‘Tin Cup’ jokes:
Tommy Fleetwood 3 into the drink on hole 6 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/3PX5Yvw79z
— Mitch Snyder (@snyder210) March 8, 2024
On the bright side, Fleetwood didn’t come close to John Daly’s record for the worst score on the hole. Back in 1998, JD carded an 18. Yep, an 18.
John Daly went FULL Tin Cup at Bay Hill’s 6th hole back in 1998. pic.twitter.com/cAkH3t9TqX
— Skratch (@Skratch) March 10, 2019
Which is impressive, even by Roy McAvoy’s standards. Good luck to anyone topping that this weekend.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com