Golden Bear golfer John Daly drained a 150-foot putt. He did, however, land in the PGA Tour Champions record book, just not in the fashion he would have liked. On the 12th hole, a par-5, Daly made an improbable 19. This endeavor broke the existing record for lowest score on a hole by three strokes.
Daly’s historic performance was precedent-setting — it was personally damaging. His 88 was clearly not the score that the prodigious talent had come to expect of himself. Although he had trouble during the course of the day, it came to a breaking point on the 12th hole. On his 18th shot however, he finally cleared the water hazard and landed in the rough just off the green’s collar. With sheer willpower he somehow scrambled to get up-and-down for a mind-numbing 19.
Daly’s 19 surprised the field, as it broke the previous record of 18, set by three different players — including Bruce Crampton. The record initially established by Crampton, at 16, came during the 1996 Greater Grand Rapids Open. The golfing public had Crampton’s feat fresh in their memory which made Daly’s new record especially significant in a bad way.
Prior to this event, John Daly made headlines by scoring the most strokes on one hole with an 18. Just like the infamous 1998 Bay Hill Invitational in which he made history by hitting his 3-wood into the drink six consecutive times. His struggles continued at the Sanford International. After his historic 19, Daly proceeded to make par on the next hole. He found himself in hot water again when his tee shot on the 13th hole found the native grass. In the worst of sequences, he made seven straight shots into water or burns.
Daly’s previous low score for a round on the PGA Tour was 90. He accomplished this on the second hole of reflexology specialty on the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in 2014. At that event, he suffered a similar fate as well, making a disastrous 12 on the par-3 16th hole. The golfer’s highs and lows have recently turned into the hallmark of his illustrious career.
In what proved an extremely difficult round at the Sanford International, Daly was grouped with Stephen Ames and Ángel Cabrera. Both players witnessed the obstacles Daly faced while playing his game. The notorious 12th hole, the signature Amen Corner, loomed larger than usual as he made history in a way that most will soon forget for all the wrong reasons.
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