It’s safe to say that, at some point in a golfer’s life, they have at least suffered this moment. You’re faced with a birdie or par putt and are looking to carry on the momentum as you head to the later stages of your round. Lining up the putt, you hit it slightly too hard then, suddenly, it won’t stop rolling, so much so, it travels past the flag and down a big slope, finishing some 30 yards off the green.
We all have stories and incidents of this happening and, for PGA Tour Champions player, Ken Duke, it was unfortunately caught on camera, with the 53-year-old, who was leading at the time, putting his birdie attempt off the front edge of the green and down a gradual slope.
Watch the video below:
Golf is a cruel sport.Ken Duke, while in the lead, watched his birdie putt roll 30 yards off the green on No. 15.He made triple. pic.twitter.com/flgDa5w1X0May 7, 2022
Playing the second round of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Duke had been leading as he made his way to the 15th hole, with the American one-under-par for his round. However, what soon followed was an incident that would make club golfers around the globe nod and say to themselves ‘yep, been there’.
Hitting two good shots into the difficult 15th, the American was faced with a rapid putt down the hill. Striking it cleanly, the putt started right of the hole but never came back.
As it trundled by, Duke started walking after it. However, it never came to rest, with the 53-year-old at one point standing over it as it continued its revolutions. Continuing to roll, the inevitable soon happened, with the ball tumbling down the bank at the front of the green and some 30 yards back from where it started.
Pitching back to the green, Duke’s fourth shot didn’t even reach the front edge, toppling back into the greenside bunker. When he did eventually find the green, Duke was faced with a near identical putt to that of five minutes ago.
Duke’s biggest professional win came at the 2013 Travelers Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Thankfully, for Duke, he would tap the putt to gimme range and eventually roll it in for a costly triple bogey. Following the disastrous hole, the American went on to par the 16th and 17th, before a birdie at the last put him two shots back of David Toms, with just the final round remaining.