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For most golfers, simply earning a place at The Masters is the realisation of a lifelong dream. But Augusta National isn’t a place that forgives weakness — when it bares its teeth, even the finest players can crumble.
Through the decades, the azaleas have witnessed some unforgettable heartbreaks: Greg Norman’s collapse in 1996, Rory McIlroy’s unraveling in 2011, and Jordan Spieth’s shock stumble in 2016. Yet even those infamous rounds pale beside the true disasters that have unfolded on this hallowed course.
The Masters – King Charlie’s 95 Nightmare
The Masters’ committee’s loyalty to amateurs and former winners is fraught with danger – as proven by Charlie Kunkle and Billy Casper.
Self-taught amateur Kunkle got into the 1956 Masters, in the days before the cut, and was getting progressively worse with rounds of 78, 82 and 85.
The best (or worst) was yet to come, however, as our man carded 95 on the final day for a final eyewatering score of 340 – a whopping 52 over par. The cut, incidentally and unsurprisingly, was introduced the following year.
Champion of 1970 Casper, meanwhile, totted up a staggering 106 when he played some 35 years later, aged 73, a round that included five trips to the water at the par three 16th. Needless to say, he didn’t put his card in.
The Open Championship – Ayton’s 18 to Forget at Soggy St Andrews
Davie Ayton’s name is written into The Open’s history books — though not for the reasons he might have hoped back in 1873. The Scotsman, who would later enjoy three top-10 finishes, began his Open journey with a staggering round of 111 at St Andrews.
Contemporary reports describe a course practically submerged under water, and in those days, there was no mercy offered by the rules. Preferred lies simply didn’t exist.
A century later, Maurice Flitcroft — now a cult figure of British sport — would produce his own slice of golfing infamy. His 121 during 1976 Open qualifying cemented his reputation as the sport’s most unlikely folk hero, as well as earning him a swift lifetime ban from the R&A.
The US Open – Tucker’s Myopia Madness
The honour of being the last man to post 100 at the US Open goes to Walter Ratto at Colonial in 1941, who doubtless sensed it wasn’t going to be his day when his opening shot hit a tree and rebounded behind him.
But that’s not even close to the lowest round at the major which prides itself on being the toughest of them all.
No, the daddy of them all was a JD Tucker whose first round around Myopia (you couldn’t make it up) took 157 shots, a record that will never be beaten.
USPGA – Watney Off Strait
Disasters in the fourth major, the US PGA, are few and far between since the event only became a strokeplay contest from 1958.
Greg Norman’s last-day demise to hand Bob Tway the laurels in 1986 will long be remembered, though was trumped by Nick Watney’s remarkable collapse at Whistling Straits.
Watney had a two-stroke lead going into the final round, saw that disappear after the first hole with a double bogey, and finished up signing for an 81, not even making the top ten.
