Justin Rose was three-under Thursday after 12 holes during the first round of the Cognizant Classic at PGA National. He stood on the next tee and promptly blew his drive on the par-4 13th way left, the ball coming to rest just inside a green, mesh fence protecting the backyard of a house.
Rose surveyed the situation and then hurdled the fence and opted to hit the shot, his second on the hole, while standing in the backyard, which was out of bounds. He took a lash and advanced the ball 124 yards and back into the fairway.
The Englishman hit wedge from 78 yards to inside two feet and made an easy par.
Rose hit his approach shot to 22 feet on the 14th hole and made birdie to get to four-under, but then made double-bogey on the par-3 17th hole after hitting his tee shot into the water. He shot two-under 69.
Victorious European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald was in the Golf Channel booth doing commentary during Rose’s display and shared that Donald once hooked a tee shot so badly during this event that the ball hit the roof of a house and bounced back into play. He found the green with his approach and two-putted for par.
