Aaron Wise had a real Tin Cup moment on the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass as he sprayed three tee shots into the water before eventually carding a 10 in the first round of the Players Championship.
Wise ended up shooting 80 after actually doing well just to take 10 on the last, getting up-and-down from 70 yards to make sure that it was only the sextuple-bogey and no more.
Before that, Wise just had one of those moments every golfer will have experienced, although not many will have had them in the PGA Tour’s flagship event with the world watching.
Now, the 18th tee shot must be one of the hardest closing holes on the entire PGA Tour, with that vast expanse of water down the left of the dogleg-left hole – with those trees on the right always proving a popular spot.
There’s no real shame in finding the drink on 18 off the tee, and no real surprise when Wise took driver and hit a nice looking shot with a bit of draw, but just started it out too far left as it found a watery grave.
The ball never crossed onto land so Wise had to reload, but he failed to adjust his line far enough right and basically hit an instant replay of the first as it splashed down in an almost identical spot.
Inexplicably though, with no change in club and no change in approach, Wise did his best Kevin Costner impression by hitting his now fifth shot of the hole again to the almost exact same spot in the lake.
“Is every ball going to be the same?” Wise was heard asking himself out loud on the TV broadcast.
Thankfully it wasn’t as Wise managed to finally break out of his mental meltdown and aim right – way right – and spanked his seventh shot into the trees on the opposite side to the water.
From there it was a simple case of advancing it down the fairway for eight, hitting a sparkling approach from 70 yards and sinking the putt for a 10 – and a round of 80.
And there were more than a few references to that classic 1996 golfing film Tin Cup in the reaction – which there was plenty of – after Wise carded the second highest ever score on 18 at the Players Championship.