This Pro Golfer Got One of the Worst Breaks You’ll See at PGA West

On Friday at The American Express, S.H. Kim arguably didn’t deserve to be tortured by PGA West’s 18-foot deep bunker.

Getting a bad bounce is one thing, but ricocheting off the flagstick into PGA West’s treacherous 18-foot deep bunker? That’s another level.

Unfortunately, S.H. Kim had just the right amount of bad luck on Friday at the American Express for the nightmarish scenario to materialize.

Kim’s 84-yard approach shot into the par-5 16th was tracking until it took a horrible carom off the pin and slowly trickled into the disaster zone. 

The Pete Dye design is infamous for that tortuous bunker, and although Kim arguably didn’t deserve it, he walked away with a big number, as many players do.

For a second, it looked like Kim’s shot may have had a chance to hang up on the side of the green, but it gradually made its way down to the lip of the nasty bunker. 

There's bad breaks ...

and then there's this 😩 pic.twitter.com/V5bUpXOYoI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023

Although the ball eventually came to rest against a rake outside of the perimeter of the sand, it took Kim four tries to get onto the green. The shot requires the utmost precision in both distance and loft, but Kim had some trouble figuring out that combination. 

The South Korean walked away with a triple-bogey eight, despite an original approach that was perfectly on-line. 

Kim will probably shake his head at that break for some time, but what happened on the next hole will hopefully put a smile on the 24-year-old’s face when he recounts the debacle. 

For every bad break, there's a great break. 

S.H. Kim had them back-to-back 😲 pic.twitter.com/Lk6eKr9eDp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023

This time, with a friendly assist from a nearby inanimate object, Kim beat his previous hole score by six shots. Boulders lining the 17th green shot Kim’s ball into the air and safely onto the putting surface, where he sunk the putt for a birdie.