19th Hole

The last-second club switch that cost Colin Montgomerie the 2006 U.S. Open

Published

4 years ago

Sep 15, 2020

Phil Mickelson’s final hole collapse at Winged Foot will always be the primary talking point amongst golf fans when discussing the 2006 U.S. Open. However, the reality is that there was Colin Montgomerie’s own final hole collapse that year which was much more brutal and equally as heartbreaking.

The Scot arrived at Winged Foot as the best player never to have won a major, with 30 European Tour wins to his name, a dominant Ryder Cup career under his belt and having suffered plenty of major close calls in the past.

About to turn 43, time was running out for Monty to get the elusive major he had always dreamed of winning. But it looked like the stars were about to align at the 2006 U.S. Open for Monty when on the 71st hole, he holed the putt of his life from 40 feet to claim a share of the lead.

Visibly emotional, Montgomerie steadied himself and ripped a driver down the fairway on the ferociously difficult 18th hole to put himself in prime position.

Waiting to play his approach shot to the final green, Monty was made to wait nervously, as playing partner Vijay Singh found himself in trouble down the left rough. That wait to hit his approach shot lasted almost 15-minutes, and throughout that period, Monty looked poised to hit his 6-iron for his approach.

Cleared to play, Monty changed his mind at the final moment, and grabbed 7-iron from his bag. Instantly, Johnny Miller in the booth said: “I’m surprised he’s just switched clubs when you’ve had 10 minutes to think about it.”

Monty took one practice swing with the 7-iron, pulled the trigger and played the worst shot of his life. Whatever the correct club was – the indecision, rushed strike and non-committal swing proved damning.

He would go on to make a sorry double bogey to miss out on a playoff by one stroke, and claimed afterwards that his last-second choice to hit 7-iron was fuelled by the belief that adrenaline would kick in.

On the most excruciating moment of his career, Monty would say years later that if Vijay Singh had hit the fairway and he had not had to wait and had so much time to overthink his approach shot he would have finally won that missing major. In his 2012 autobiography, Monty wrote about the shot saying:

“By the time it was my turn, I was beginning to second-guess myself. Was it a seven-iron? Was it not a six? Was it a big seven-iron or a little one? Did I detect a touch of wind?

Why did I hesitate on that backswing? I don’t exactly know anything more beyond the fact that my mind certainly wasn’t clear. I knew at the time that I had hesitated. It would have been possible to pull out of the swing since it wasn’t complete and that’s what I should have done. Stopped, regrouped and started all over again.”

Following his double bogey on the last, Monty made his way to the press center and put in a spirited performance with the media. You would never have thought he had just blown his big chance at winning a major, as he showed off his razor-sharp wit when a reporter asked him if he allowed himself to think about winning after holing his putt on 17, responding:

“No, you don’t think about winning when you’re one ahead with one to play, no. Not at all, no thoughts of victory at all. I was just having a Sunday game, just a game with Vijay, just a few thousand people watching, that was all.”

However, the reality of Montgomerie’s true feelings were far more raw. The defeat had begun to sink in when he boarded his flight home that evening. In his autobiography, Monty laid bare how he truly felt over his failure to capitalize on the opportunity he had waited his entire career for:

“I had a very bad flight home that night. I remember sitting there in a daze, not knowing what to say or do. I wasn’t crying. I had gone beyond that. I was incapable of any analysis. The same three words, ‘What just happened?’, kept going through my head.”

Turning 43 a few days later, Monty hoped that his close call would inspire more challenges at the majors later in his career. It didn’t. The 2006 U.S. Open would be the final time he would contend at a major, and it remains the ultimate heartbreak which will always haunt the Scot.

Your Reaction?

LIKE101
LEGIT13
WOW21
LOL2
IDHT1
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK3

19th Hole

‘I drove the living p*** out of the ball today’ – Jordan Spieth left frustrated by ‘bizarre’ current form after opening 73

Published

2 days ago

Apr 5, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Thursday, Jordan Spieth shot an opening round 73 (+1) at the Valero Texas Open. In typical Spieth fashion, the 73 was relatively unconventional with circles and squares all over the scorecard.

On the front nine, Spieth four bogeys and two birdies to make the turn in 38 (+2). On the back nine, things got even more interesting. The three-time major champion made a double-bogey on the par-5 14th followed by an incredible hole-in-one on the par 3-16th.

? SPIETH ACE ?@JordanSpieth makes a hole-in-one on the 199-yard par-3 16th hole @ValeroTXOpen.

(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/kHZKIxKiIZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 4, 2024

After the round, Spieth said “I’m playing so much better than I’ve been scoring”.

He added that he “drove the living piss out of the ball today”, which caused frustration because one bad drive on 15 created a big number. Spieth then said, “my driving stats don’t look the way they actually feel”.

Jordan Spieth: “I drove the living piss out the ball today..”

(Via: @pmcdonaldCBS)

pic.twitter.com/qr13UlSJzZ

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 5, 2024

Spieth will try to put it all together in his second round on Friday morning at TPC San Antonio.

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE13
LEGIT5
WOW0
LOL4
IDHT1
FLOP5
OB3
SHANK4

19th Hole

Anthony Kim says doctors told him that he ‘may not have much time left’ ahead of LIV return

Published

2 days ago

Apr 5, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking in with the media in his pre-tournament conference for LIV Miami, Anthony Kim revealed that he was told by doctors that he “may not have much time left” at some point during his twelve years away from professional golf.

“I mean, you know, not to get too far into it, but when doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that’s a pretty rude awakening. I still think about it to this day when I’m out there and I get frustrated with my golf, you know, how far I’ve come. And other people don’t need to know the journey. I’m going to share it, and the people that find inspiration and strength from it, I hope it can influence them in a positive way. But yeah, it was — I got to a point where, you know, I may not be here speaking to you guys.”

Anthony Kim when asked about his low point over the past 12 years:

"I mean, you know, not to get too far into it, but when doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that's a pretty rude awakening. I still think about it to this day when I'm out there and I…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 4, 2024

This week, “AK” is making his first start in the United States since his return. Kim has played in two tournaments in both Jeddah and Hong Kong and has finished 53rd and 50th.

Despite the poor results on the leaderboard, Kim shot a 65 in the final round at Hong Kong Golf Club, which is incredibly impressive considering he told David Feherty in an interview this week that he picked up a club for the first time three months before LIV Jeddah.

The 38-year-old credits his two-year old daughter, Bella, for saving his life and being his inspiration.

“I got professional help. I think that I didn’t deal with a lot of the trauma and whatever came from my life, and I buried it because I didn’t want to show anybody weakness, right. And I thought by showing vulnerability, that was weakness, and I’ve come to a point in my life where I don’t care if somebody thinks that about me or not.

“My daughter is all I care about, and I know it almost sounds corny for me to say but as long as she’s proud of me, I’m a happy man.”

Kim is set to tee it up for the first round of LIV Miami at Trump Doral on Friday.

*Featured Image Photo courtesy of LIV Golf*

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE25
LEGIT11
WOW14
LOL4
IDHT2
FLOP1
OB3
SHANK20

19th Hole

Notah Begay gives gloomy update on Tiger’s injuries ahead of 2024 Masters

Published

3 days ago

Apr 4, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with USA Today, Tiger Woods’ good friend, Notah Begay III, discussed the health of the 15-time major champion.

“He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he’s presented with. And he’s got some constraints,” Begay said. “He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”

At Begay’s tournament he hosts that Tiger’s son Charlie played in, Tiger told him, “My ankle doesn’t move. So, something’s going to take the stress. I mean, the stress is going to transfer somewhere else.”

At the Genesis Invitational, that pain transferred to Woods’ back, causing him to withdraw from the tournament.

“For the past couple months, he’s been trying to find a way to recover,” Begay added. “He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”

Last year, Woods made the cut at Augusta, but was forced to withdraw over the weekend due to plantar fasciitis.

The week will be sure to test Tiger, as Augusta National is one of the most difficult walks in golf.