Golf Bloopers, Fails, and Hilariousness
Do you ever stay until the end of a movie just to watch the blooper reel? It’s the best part! People laughing, falling, messing up their lines. Sometimes it’s funnier than the whole movie. They’ve even made television shows just showcasing the ridiculous and hilarious bloopers that happen in everyday life. And just like anything else, golfers can provide some laughs with their ultimate fails on the course, too. It seems that golf can be somewhat of a stuffy sport. It takes concentration and serene quiet to play on some of the toughest courses on the tour. However, when you put together tiny, bouncing golf balls, clubs, and add in the elements of the course, anything is possible.
Last year at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Phil Mickelson was targeting his fifth win at the tournament. He was the reigning champ of the pro-am and with a win in 2013, he would have tied Mark O’Meara’s record of five tournament wins. After a strong start for Lefty, it started going downhill fast. During the third round on the 18th hole, Mickelson’s drive landed on large rocks near the water. As he started to shuffle his way down the slippery rocks, he fell, landing right on his butt. Mickelson may have had his worst showing at the tournament since 2008, but he didn’t get hurt!
Maybe Andreas Harto got it right, or really wrong, when he decided to bare it all after his ball landed near the water. Instead of risking a soggy outfit, Harto stripped down out of his pants to take the shot, and then, quite surprisingly, shuffled across the green, still pants-less, to mark his ball. We will never know the thought process behind keeping his pants off. Maybe it was too hot outside, maybe he wanted to feel the fresh green on his bare feet. Either way, it makes for one heck of a gif!
Call it luck or call it a really big blooper: Carl Pettersson was in his backswing on the fifth fairway during the 2013 US Open when a wild tee shot rolled down the fairway and hit Pettersson’s ball just before he went to hit it himself. The timing was perfect, or really bad if you’re Pettersson, for a blooper reel. And Carl reacted to it like a true professional… just step back and try again.
During an appearance on Golf Channel’s Big Break NFL Puerto Rico, Chi Chi Rodriguez was attempting the well-known glass break challenge, in which golfers attempt to break a piece of glass with a golf ball. Rodriguez hit the ball on the plane of glass, but instead of breaking it, the ball bounced right back at him and hit him in the, well, you know, “sensitive spot.” After walking it off, Rodriguez joked and said, “I forgot I had something down there.” Eventually, he successfully broke the glass, and then took some more time to recover. Don’t blame him!
We can’t really talk about golf bloopers without the mention of animals. The most curious animals have been known to make their way out onto the course at the most inopportune time to check out what exactly is going on. We have seen our fair share of birds, squirrels, even deer completely throw off a person’s golf game. But aren’t they so cute?!
The best blooper reels include endless video of golfers who whiff completely, let go of their club in mid-swing, or end up hitting the ball just to have it land inches from where it was. Or, when a complete professional and champion golfer like Jason Dufner makes a rookie mistake. At the 2013 Franklin Templeton Shootout, Dufner was getting in his stance when the tip of his putter accidentally tapped the ball, counting as his turn. The reaction of the other golfers on the green is priceless. I guess in a situation like this, all you can do is laugh.
My advice for all of these golfers, and for you next time you’re out on the course and a squirrel decides to steal your ball: laugh it off! It may throw off your golf game, but in the end, your fail is the internet’s gain. And you might just make the next best blooper reel.
-Sniff