Golf is often times a game of luck.
Sure, there’s plenty of skill involved, and the best golfers in the world amaze fans day after day with their ability to bomb drives, curve shots and stick it close from crazy angles. Yet there’s always fortunate bounces that can make a bad shot a good one, and in some cases, make a good one really, really bad.
Enter S.H. Kim, who was playing his third shot at the PGA West Stadium Course during the second round of The American Express in La Quinta, California. He had 83 yards to the flag on the par-5 16th hole, and his wedge shot was dialed in.
Just a bit too much, however.
He hit the flag, and the ball went sprinting backward. It hung on the edge of the fairway short of the green before tumbling down the infamous hill along the left side of the hole. It would have ended up in the infamous bunker, but the ball ended up jammed under the rake. Kim took relief, but his fourth, fifth and sixth shots ended up in the bunker. With his seventh, he was able to get it on the putting surface and drained the putt for the triple-bogey 8.
On a positive note, Kim bounced back in a big way, making birdie on the island 17th green. Talk about a tale of two holes.
For every bad break, there’s a great break.
S.H. Kim had them back-to-back
pic.twitter.com/Lk6eKr9eDp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023