Xander Schauffele endured a nightmare incident at the Zozo Championship, with the world number two carding a quadruple-bogey on the ninth hole.
Schauffele predicted a tricky Zozo Championship, where he finished with a three-over 73 in his opening round of the latest PGA Tour event.
Fellow PGA Tour player Michael Kim jokingly reacted to Schauffele’s Zozo Championship nightmare, where his tee shot wedged against a tree root.
And instead of taking an immediate drop, the two-time major champion had two failed attempts out of the trees.
Schauffele finally took a penalty drop and eventually landed his ball on the green, but ended the par-four ninth with a quadruple-bogey eight.
Xander Schauffele admits he was an ‘idiot’ on Zozo Championship day one
At one point of the ordeal he did manage to see the funny side, but the American then shared his frustration after completing his round.
“Overall it was pretty low stress for the most part of the day,” said Schauffele, as quoted by Sky Sports. “Like 85 per cent of the day was not very stressful.
“Number nine, it was an incredible spot. I wanted to take a photo of it almost, how bad it was. For me to think I can do anything definitely got me in a hole there.
“I should have just taken an unplayable, but I was an idiot and tried to hit it. Then I was stubborn and then tried to hit it again, then finally took an unplayable. I was going to hit it a third time too just because, but yeah, it was a bad spot.”
Xander Schauffele and Max Homa T70 at Zozo Championship
The highest-ranked player at the Zozo Championship, Schauffele ended the day 10 shots behind leader Taylor Moore.
His fellow Americans Max Greyserman and Eric Cole finished one behind on six-under, joined by Colombian Nicolas Echavarria.
But there can be no writing off world number two Schauffele, who would have enjoyed his day if not for the nightmare on the ninth.
He did, however, manage just one birdie at the par-three 13th, with much improved scoring needed on day two if he is to soar up the ranks.
Schauffele will head into the second round of the Zozo Championship T70 with compatriot Max Homa, with only six players below the American duo.
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