Reigning Open champion Brian Harman admits he lost patience during his horrific back nine implosion in the first round of the Masters which saw him come home in a staggering 47 shots and ultimately waste the tournament.
Harman was in pretty good shape at two-under through nine holes and had just bogeyed the 11th and 12th before the hooter sounded to halt play for darkness. When he returned to the golf course on Friday morning, he went on a disastrous run.
Harman spun a wedge into Rae’s creek from 79 yards on the par-5 13th costing him a double bogey. Pars followed at 14 and 15 before he found the water on the par-3 16th, leading to a triple bogey before back-to-back double bogeys saw him home in 47 and an opening round of 81 – his worst ever score in a major.
The left-hander admits that he lost the head on the back nine.
“Oh, man, 47, you’re right. I thought it was 46. You know, I didn’t have my best stuff. I played at Valero and was feeling pretty good, winning there. My prep wasn’t that great. Got off to a good start, which I haven’t really done, and the conditions just got the better of me,” said the American who made his PGA Tour debut 20 years ago at this week’s RBC Heritage.
“I hit a wedge shot into the water on 13, which is the hole that I restarted on, and I just lost my patience. I’ve been pretty good at being able to kind of dial myself or bring myself back to the moment, and I just, yeah, I made that mistake.
“Then I hit it in the water on 16. Both shots I felt like I executed pretty good. If you could have let me move my ball three feet I probably would have made two birdies instead of a double and a triple. Once I got behind it, the wind’s blowing, it’s just such a hard golf course.
“I was proud of the way that I hung in there without really — I wasted the golf tournament, but I was proud of the way I hung in there Friday afternoon and shot a decent score, even after I wasn’t going to make the cut. So, what happened? I lost patience and made some bad golf swings and they add up quick over there.”
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