Choking is something that happens to every golfer, even the greatest golfers at one time or another.
When you have the pressure of winning a tournament on your shoulders, your moves are bound to falter.
It doesn’t matter if you are a rookie or world number 1 at golf, every player at some point or another has fallen victim to the pressure of sinking the hole.
Sometimes the players manage to make the best of it and sometimes the pressure gets the best of them.
When those breakdowns happen late in big tournaments, people will remember them for a long time! From hitting the ball out of bounds to quintuple bogeys, here are 10 greatest golf collapses and chokes of all time.
10. Sergio Garcia
2013 Players Championship At the 2013 Players Championship played at TPC Sawgrass, Garcia was tied for the lead at 13-under.
But at hole 17, known as the “Island Green,” a par-3, 132-yard everything changed. While approaching the 17th green his shot landed short and in the water.
This happened not once but twice. That must have hammered his confidence because the next shots were even worse.
He finished the hole with a quadruple bogey. Garcia looked all set for a play-off with Tiger Woods but the double bogey at 18th brought him down to a seven-way tie for 8th position.
His winnings at the event were just $237,500. This choke cost him nearly $1.5 million!
9. Phil Mickelson
2006 US Open At the 2006 US Open Mickelson had a one shot lead on Geoff Ogilvy. With only 1 hole to go.
But on the tee box on the 18th hole at Winged Foot Golf Club West Course, a 469-yard par-4, he made a huge blunder.
He hit his ball all the way to the left, hitting the roof of a hospitality tent. What followed was a series of mistakes more fitting for a golf newbie.
Mickelson tried to cut a 3-iron around a tree but ended up hitting the tree trunk instead and the ball rolled right back to him.
On his next try, the ball flew into a buried lie in the greenside bunker on the left which left Mickelson with an almost impossible shot.
He didn’t manage to get up and down from there, making double bogey. He was set to win the US Open but within minutes on the final hole his chances diminished and he lost to Geoff Ogilvy.
Phil later said: “I didn’t know what happened on those bunkers. I’ve never seen that much sand all week. I still am in shock that I did that, I just can’t believe that I did that. I am such an idiot.”
8. Jordan Spieth
2016 Masters At the 2016 Masters, Speiths had a 5-shot lead with 9 holes to play. But the bogeys on no.10 and 11 quickly turned things sour.
The quadruple bogey on the 12th hole was no less than a disaster. Spieth finished in a tie for second and lost by 3 shots to Danny Willett.
It was small green guarded by bunkers front and back with maybe 10 yards of landing space. What ensued was an unsuccessful battle between Speith and Rae’s Creek as he sank 2 balls in the water.
Reminiscing about the tournament Spieth said “When the pressure was on that day, I was hitting the ball horribly.
But it wasn’t because it was Sunday at Augusta. No, it was like I was just hitting it that bad. And unfortunately, that’s not the way it can be or would be looked at, no matter what I say or who I say it to.”
7. Dustin Johnson
2015 U.S. Open When Johnson approached the 18th hole at the 2015 U.S. Open he had a great chance of winning against Jordan Speith but it all went downhill.
After hitting two impressive shots on the par-5, Johnson was left with a 12-foot putt to grab his first major win.
He missed the putt and was left with a 4-foot putt to tie the game. Needless to say, Johnson missed the second putt too.
It wasn’t the first time Johnson had missed a chance at a playoff. Earlier in the PGA Championship, he forgot the rules on the 72nd hole and grounded his club in a hazard.
It cost him the chance to win. Back in the final round of the 2010 US Open Johnson had gone in with a 3-shot lead into the final round and shot an 82.
6. Adam Scott
2012 British Open Scott opened with a 64 in the first round at the 2012 British Open and then began the final round with a 4-stroke lead.
He appeared calm and composed. As he reached the 15th tee, he was at a 4-stroke lead and was 5 ahead of Ernie Els.
Scott managed a perfect drive on hole 15 and Els, who was a couple of groups ahead, made a birdie on the 16th to get within four.
That’s when Scott started spiraling down. He had bogeyed the last 4 holes while Els had rallied. Though he didn’t blow up at any of the holes, it was just simple mistakes that caused the bogeys.
On the 18th, Scott’s tee-ball rolled into a pot bunker and he played out sideways from that. However, he missed the 7-foot putt which would have forced a playoff and gave away his chance to win his first major.
Later Scott Said: “It’s still amazing really. I didn’t felt that I did that much badly and I just made the worst of it somehow.”
5. Jean Van de Velde
1999 British Open Even though Paul Lawrie won the 1999 British Open, it was Van de Velde’s choke at the 18th hole that stole the show.
The French golfer was a journeyman player on the European Tour and was trying to become the first Frenchman to win the Open Championship since 1907.
Van de Velde reached the 18th tee with a three-stroke lead and just when it seemed like he was just inches away from winning the tournament, everything went wrong for him! His drive landed into the rough.
The ideal shot would be to hit the ball in front of the burn that crossed in front of the green but Van de Velde went for the green.
His shot, unfortunately, found the grandstands, bounced off into the rocks along the edge of the burn, and landed into the thick rough.
He managed to hack the ball out of the rough but it plopped into the water. Van de Velde’s image with his shoes off, climbing down into the water became one of the most iconic images of the tournament.
A shot wasn’t possible since the water levels had risen due to the high tide. His next shot landed in a greenside bunker. He sank the putt for triple-bogey.
4. Rory McIlroy
2011 Masters At the 2011 Masters, McIlroy started the final round with a four-stroke lead. But as he approached the 10th hole, the chances of a win started diminishing.
His drive on number 10 went out of bounds and landed between two cabins at Augusta National’s course. To make matters worse, the trees lining the course posed another big obstacle.
He dropped down from his lead and ended with a triple bogey on the 10th hole. It was followed by a bogey on the 11th and a double bogey on the 12th. McIlroy finished with an 80 and dropped to 15th place.
3. IK. Kim
2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship Kim had reached the final round with a one-stroke lead. Things seemed to be going well for her until her birdie putt.
She missed the putt and the ball landed only a foot away from the hole. Sink the one-foot putt and you are the champion, right? Well, it wasn’t so easy for Kim.
As Kim putted the ball, it rimmed the hole and came back to her. She had to settle for a bogey and dropped into a tie with Sun Young Koo.
No one would have anticipated that something like this can happen in a one-foot putt.
2. Tom Watson
2009 British Open Tom Watson missed out on probably the greatest achievement of his career. If he would have made the 8-foot putt, Watson would have the honor of becoming a 59-year-old winner who defeated players half his age.
The audience at the course we’re hoping for one of the greatest moments in golf history to happen at Turnberry. But a shock awaited them.
As he approached the 18th hole, he was left with an 8 to 10 foot putt to win. Unfortunately, Watson missed the putt and then went on to lose a 4-hole playoff to Stewart Cink.
It was Cink’s first major win but the fans were too immersed in Watson’s loss to cheer for him.
1. Jeff Maggert
2003 Masters He entered the final round with an advantage of 2 shots but he had to give those away back on the par-4, 3rd hole due to a bizarre penalty.
He was trying to get out of the fairway bunker when his shot hit the lip of the bunker and bounced back on him. Since he had touched the ball accidentally, it cost him a 2 shot penalty.
But that wasn’t the worst part of the day. He played the next 8 holes at 2 under and had a good shot at the win. However, his tee shot at the par-3, 12th hole flew away from the green and landed in the back bunker.
It was a tricky shot with the creek right on the other side of the green. And as he feared, the ball landed into the water. He had a quintuple bogey.
Even though he rallied the 13th, 14th, and 15th holes, he finished 5 shots behind Weir and Mattiace and lost his chance to win the green jacket.
