WHOOPS: Ryan Palmer’s Bold Shot Costs Him Nearly $200k

Having a chance to win a tournament on the final hole is one of the greatest thrills that a golfer can have; it also means that you have to make some tough decisions. It seems as though Ryan Palmer did not make the best choice this past weekend.

The Sony Open provided a ton of excitement this past weekend that ended with Cameron Smith winning a playoff against Brendan Steele. There was a chance though for PGA TOUR veteran Ryan Palmer to join the two in that playoff, solely depending on if he could have birdied the final hole on Sunday, the par-5 18th. Palmer started off with a poor tee shot that ended up in the bunker which lead to an interesting decision made by the player.

With a chance at a playoff in the tournament, most players would have just laid it up out of that bunker so they can try to hit their approach for a birdie from the fairway. Palmer and his caddie had other ideas as they pulled out the 3-wood to hit out of the sand. Unfortunately, for Palmer, the shot sailed on him; as it bounced off the top of the leaderboard and out of bounds, essentially, ending any chance he had.

Ryan Palmer was 1 back when he hit this shot.

The aggressive play led to a wild bounce.

He bogeyed to finish 2 back. pic.twitter.com/WXVCZfyxtf

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 13, 2020

After the shot, Palmer was joking around and stated after he finished his round that he would have done the same thing all over again given the opportunity. “Yeah, I knew I was one back,” Palmer said. “It’s a shot I hit every time. There is no doubt about it.” He also went to Twitter to tell fans that he’ll do the same thing next week if he gets the chance because “that’s golf.”

The most awkward part of the whole thing for Palmer must have been walking up to the green only to see that the ball had bounced well out of bounds. He then had to take a cart ride back to hit it from the previous spot with his opponents watching this all unfold. While he can get over that moment, one thing he won’t get back is the money he could’ve earned. He ended up bogeying and dropping down on the leaderboard, which in turn ended up costing him $178,000 in winnings, even more considering he could have been in the playoff.

It’s easy to look at this and say that Palmer made the wrong decision and should have laid up, but there’s something to be said for going for the win and being bold. As Palmer said, ‘that’s golf’ and he’ll just move on to the next tournament, where he’ll hope to be in the running for the title yet again.

Cover Image Via Twitter