Golf is a cruel game. Webb Simpson lit TPC Sawgrass on fire during his second round, rocketing to the lead and stringing together six birdies in a row on the back nine. He put himself in position to break the course record as long as he played the final two holes at one-over par.
Webb Simpson was about to break the TPC Sawgrass course record ... and then the 17th hole got the best of him
It happens.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
He stepped up to 17, the infamous hole where many a Players Championship dream has gone to die, and the golf Gods didn’t have it in the cards for him to make history.
The hole played at 147 yards on Friday. Simpson grabbed the sand wedge to hit it and said he felt pretty good over the ball in his post-round interview. His caddie described what happened in more detail to ESPN, and Simpson came up just short of hitting grass. The bulkhead that surrounds the green caused the ball to pop up into the air as it did, and rolled into the water.
Simpson hit his third shot from the drop zone, missed his first putt and made his second to card a double bogey five on the hole. He parred 18th with another two-putt and had to settle for merely tying the course record.
But he still set some records on the day.
He’ll take his five-shot lead over the field into moving day, and we’ll see if he can conquer 17 on the weekend. He’s already beasted the rest of the course.
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