Golf can be aggravating, even for professionals—and William Mouw was reminded of that the hard way on Friday afternoon.
Mouw, a PGA Tour rookie, got that harsh dose of reality on the 16th hole in the second round of the American Express at the PGA West Stadium Course. The 23-year-old posted a 13 on the difficult par-5 after an extended run-in with the hole's greenside bunker.
But it wasn't so much how Mouw reached a baker's dozen. It was the way in which he did so that made for a particularly tough watch.
The former Pepperdine player entered the hole playing well, carding a 68 on Thursday before going through the first 15 holes of his second round at 2-under-par on the day and 6-under for the tournament. However, he opted to stay aggressive with his second shot on the par-5, but came up well short—and more disastrously, well left.
From there, Mouw experienced his own Groundhog's Day moment. He sent the ball from the bunker over the back of the green, only to fire his fourth shot right back into the bunker. He failed to mount the massive cliffs of the bunker on his next two shots and then would repeat the same sequence of events from his third and fourth shots—over the back of the green, back into the bunker.
Here's a video of Mouw's full (and repetitive) excursion around the 16th, complete with a shot tracker map for the ages:
Cinema. pic.twitter.com/8W9iL7dZUJ
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 18, 2025
To make matters worse, Mouw's awful day wasn't over. He went on to triple bogey the par-3 17th, ending the day with an 81, the second-worst round of the tournament.
Mouw will still get the chance to play at least one more round under the unique format at the American Express, which allows all golfers to play at least one round on each of the tournament's three courses before making a cut after 54 holes. Currently in sole possession of 152nd place (out of 154 remaining golfers), he's set to tee off at 1:09 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as PGA Tour Rookie Posts Disastrously Repetitive 13 on PGA West's 16th Hole.
