Kyle Stanley squandered a five-shot lead on the final day to lose the Farmers Insurance Open title to Brandt Snedeker this weekend. To try help Kyle feel better, the Mole has compiled a list of the top-five chokes in golf.
5.) Thomas Bjorn, 2003 British Open
Bjorn had a two-shot lead with three holes to play at Royal St George’s Golf Club, but the Dane found trouble on 16 when his approach shot rolled through the green and into a bunker.
It took Bjorn three shots to get out of that bunker, after his first two attempts pitched on the green and rolled back into the sand.
The result was a double bogey, which drew him level with eventual winner Ben Curtis. Bjorn went on to bogey 17 as well to hand Curtis the title.
The Mole recommends muting the sound for this video, the uploader has a strange vision of what music mixes with golf.
4.) Scott Hoch, 1989 Masters
Scott Hoch was a well-known grinder on the PGA tour – he rarely made mistakes – but in the 1989 Masters he threw away his best chance of winning a Major.
In the playoff for the title Nick Faldo made five, meaning Hoch had two putts to win the tournament, but Hoch missed a three-foot par putt for the win and Faldo went on to win on the next hole.
3.) Phil Mickelson, 2006 US Open
Mickelson has a reputation for aggressive, all-or-nothing golf, which has brought him a lot of success, but it also resulted in him executing one of the most extravagant chokes in tournament play.
Mickelson had a one-shot lead standing on the 18th tee having only hit two fairways all day with his driver. For some reason he chose to hit driver and sliced it.
From there he tried an audacious slice around a tree instead of the safe option of pitching it onto the fairway, and it didn’t work.
He ended up with a double-bogey, finishing one shot out of a playoff.
"I am such an idiot," he said afterward.
2.) Greg Norman, 1996 Masters
Norman has lost tournaments due to bad luck and bad play plenty of times in his career, but none were worse than the 1996 Masters.
Norman entered the final round with a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo (he seems to benefit from this kind of thing a lot).
But the Australian just couldn’t get it together and limped to a final-round 78, and Faldo’s 67 turned Norman’s six-shot lead into a five-shot defeat.
1.) Jean Van De Velde, 1999 British Open
Van de Velde was a journeyman player on the European Tour who wasted a chance at glory in the 1999 British Open.
The Frenchman had a three-shot lead standing on the 18th tee, no-one expected anyone else to win the tournament.
All he needed to win the tournament was a 6. He could have hit three seven irons and three-putted, and he would have won. But he pulled out the driver and who wouldn’t, to be fair?
His drive wasn’t bad but ended up in the rough and, instead of laying up, Van de Velde again picked the aggressive option and went for the green. His wayward shot bounced off the grandstand and landed in some thick rough just short of the Barry Burn water Hazard.
He hacked his next shot into that hazard. At this point it seemed if he had completely lost it, as he took off his shoes, rolled up his slacks and climbed into the water and looked as if he would try play it out.
Finally, sanity prevailed and he took a penalty drop. From there he put the ball in the bunker and went up-and-down for the most infamous triple-bogey in golf history.
He completed this historic meltdown by losing the playoff to Paul Lawrie.
Do you agree with the Mole's list, or is there a different choke you'd put in the top five?
