CNN
—
All golfers have been there. The target for your shot is surrounded by a water hazard, adding some jeopardy to the occasion.
In Sunday’s final round at the Players Championship, Alex Smalley endured a moment which took the nerve-wracking experience of playing with water to a whole new level.
On the famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass – where the pin is surrounded on all sides by water apart from a small walkway allowing players to access the green – Smalley hit his tee shot towards the island.
After bouncing a few times on the green, Smalley’s ball landed on the wooden ledge which borders the green.
Typically, a ball would drop straight into the water, but the American’s took a different journey, embarking on a precarious journey across the wooden surface as the noise from the crowd increased in volume. Each moment it avoided a watery grave only added to the tension.
Eventually, after rolling around and teetering on the edge for more than 10 seconds, Smalley’s ball dropped into water to the dismay of all those watching – and the 28-year-old himself.
“It had to go along the wood 10 feet just to make him suffer that much longer,” the commentary team said on the official coverage.
The cruel moment was a big blow to the world No. 133, who was enjoying an excellent round until that point. He finished the par-three 17th with a double bogey.
His score on the penultimate hole was a big factor in Smalley carding a four-over 76 in the final round on Sunday as he eventually finished tied for 14th place in the overall standings at five-under. That put him seven shots off leaders Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun, who will have a Monday playoff to determine a winner.
The shot wasn’t just agonizing for Smalley because it saw him drop down the leaderboard. It also ended up potentially costing him a lot of money.
The most unusual job in sports? This scuba diver turns lost golf balls into lucrative business
If the American had carded par on the infamous 17th instead of his double bogey, he would have entered a tie for 10th place, earning $631,250 instead of the $418,750 he took home for his T-14 finish. And if he birdied the hole, he would have finished T-9 and earned $706,250 – $287,500 more than he actually took home.
Smalley is not the first and certainly will not be the last to hit his ball into the drink on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
Jim Best, a scuba diver who is tasked with collecting balls from the water surrounding the green on the 17th, recently told CNN Sports that he salvages around 70,000 balls from that particular body of water alone every year.
