No matter what happened this week, Ben Carr was going to have a special experience at LACC playing in his first U.S. Open. But a great week got even better when last year’s U.S. Amateur runner-up made it to the weekend. And he seemed destined for arguably the shot of the day on Saturday with a hole-out eagle—until he got absolutely robbed.
There are robberies. There are highway robberies. And then there’s what happened to Carr on the 16th hole during the third round. Playing his approach from 218 yards on the longest par 4 in U.S. Open history, the 22-year-old amateur out of Georgia Southern struck a perfect long iron that wound up striking the dead center of the flagstick—and somehow staying on the edge of the cup without dropping. You have to see it to believe it:
Why golf gods?! WHY?! That’s about as cruel as it gets right there.
Seriously, we might need former physics major Bryson DeChambeau to explain how it’s even possible that Carr’s golf ball didn’t drop. Carr tapped/kicked/breathed(?) that in for a birdie moments later.
Since Carr won’t be turning pro until sometime after this tournament, at least it didn’t cost him any money. Still, that’s a tough one.