Alex Smalley found the water at Sawgrass’ iconic 17th hole – but only after his ball took a comical tour round the edge of the island green.
Smalley was playing alongside Rory McIlroy in the penultimate group of The Players Championship, which reached its climax on Sunday night.
The par-three 17th is one of the most iconic and treacherous holes in golf. It sees players hit around 140 yards over a lake towards a green surrounded by water.
Thirty balls were lost to the lake over the first three rounds this week and Smalley was one of the final victims of this year’s Players Championship.
The world No 133 saw his shot land on the green before the ball bounced ominously towards the water.
It eventually settled on the thin wedge of wooden decking separating the green from the lake.
For more than 10 seconds, the ball rolled along the edge of the island before eventually dropping into the water.
Golf star Alex Smalley put his ball in the water at the iconic 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass
Smalley’s ball took a comical tour round the edge of the green before dropping into the water
It was cruel and costly end for Smalley, who made a double-bogey five at the 17th. Another bogey followed at 18 as he finished on five-under-par.
It was not the first moment of comedy of the weekend. During Saturday’s third round, Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia were forced to take a drop on the Sawgrass driving range.
The two overnight leaders had spent nearly 20 minutes on the fifth hole – looking for their balls, traipsing in the bushes and liaising with officials – before they finally hit their approaches towards the green.
The final pairing had both sent their drives into the trees and both had opted to take an unplayable drop.
Lee and Bhatia headed nearly 70 yards further away from the hole – to the other side of the tree line – in order to give themselves a shot at the green.
