Top 10 Major Meltdowns

Mak Lok-lin recalls the occasions when really great players did really bad things at golf’s biggest championships

4

Thomas Bjorn

2003 Open Championship,

Royal St George’s Golf Club

 

Thomas Bjorn must thought his Open chances were over at the 17th hole of his first round at Sandwich. Having left his first shot in the bunker (for what he claimed was the first time in a decade), he petulantly hit the sand with his club, resulting in a two-shot penalty and an ugly quadruple bogey. History doesn’t record whether he thought to claim he was “smoothing” the sand – a la Rory McIlroy – at the time.

            Fast forward to Sunday, and unbelievably, Bjorn held a three-shot lead over Ben Curtis with only four to play. Hitting into a fairway bunker on 15, which left him with no choice but to chip out sideways, led to a dropped shot. On the par-3 16th, his tee shot caught a swale on the right of the green which took his ball into a greenside bunker. His next shot ran up the same swale…and came back to him again. Unbelievably, his next shot did exactly the same thing. Given the circumstances, his “sandy” with the next shot was remarkable and a double bogey a good result. Now tied for the lead – and with his meltdown in full swing – he then drove into the rough on 17 and made bogey. Needing a birdie at the home hole to force a playoff with the little-known Curtis, Bjorn again found trouble, and despite scrambling for a par, his championship hopes lay in tatters. Understandably, his bunker blues were the focus of attention in the aftermath, but his bad tempered strike on day one and his poor driving down the final stretch were as much to blame.

 

 

5

Jack Nicklaus

1963 Open Championship,

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club

 

That year’s Open is best remembered for the one-sided playoff where a stunning putting display by Kiwi lefty Bob Charles saw him win a 36-hole playoff with Phil Rogers by eight strokes. What history has kindly forgotten is the collapse of Jack Nicklaus in the final round, proving that even the best in the game are not immune from Major meltdowns. Having played himself into position to win the title outright, Nicklaus missed a two-foot putt for par on 15 and then chunked a chip on the 16th to drop another shot. Even so, he was still tied for the lead coming to the last hole: a par would get him into the playoff, a birdie would win it. To his obvious disgust, he put his drive into a fairway bunker, from where he could only make bogey. He had dropped three shots in four holes to miss out on extra holes by just one. Renowned later in life for his steely determination under pressure, he called this uncharacteristic lapse “the most glaring mental blunder of my entire career.”

 

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