MAMARONECK, N.Y. — If it wasn’t bad enough that Patrick Cantlay arrived at the 15th hole at Winged Foot standing at 11 over par in the U.S. Open, next-to-last among those who made the cut, what happened next was just plain mean.
His second shot to the par 4 was just in front of the green, requiring a pitch shot over the slope on the front of the green. Get it close and maybe he could sneak off with just his second par of the back nine.
Instead, he got this:
That was cruel. 😱@patrick_cantlay rattles it off the flagstick at the 15th. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/565eWvbYd9
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) September 19, 2020
He was 22 yards from the hole when he hit the pitch. By the time the ball got done rolling backward after hitting the flagstick, he was 48 yards away. He walked away with another bogey.
Earlier in the day, Max Homa, who missed the cut, summed up U.S. Open golf at Winged Foot about as well as anyone.
Playing Winged Foot is like going for a run. Ur optimistic to start, ur almost immediately pissed off, there’s a lot of heavy breathing, the views are great, ur wondering why u did this to urself, there’s some self-hate involved, finishing is euphoric, ur gunna do it again
— max homa (@maxhoma23) September 19, 2020
Nobody said golf was easy — or fair.