At the Players Championship, Adam Hadwin had a terrible finish to his first round after hitting his approach into the water on the eighteenth hole, and his club soon followed.
PGA Tour professional Adam Hadwin displayed intense anger during the last hole of his first round at the Players Championship on Thursday, throwing his club into a lake. After a inconsistent start on the first nine holes, Hadwin began playing better after the halfway point.
He managed to make three birdies in seven holes, bringing him back to even par with only two holes left to play. However, he struggled on the famous 17th hole, failing to hit the green and instead landing his tee shot in the water like many other players before him.
A penalty shot then followed before he went on to a double bogey, undoing his hard work on the back nine. Unfortunately for the Canadian, his troubles with the Sawgrass water hazards were far from over.
His tee shot at the final hole of the day nearly followed the same fate, but fortunately his ball grabbed in the left-hand-side rough, to ensure it finished just a few feet away from the hazard. Having received the break though, Hadwin failed to capitalise as his second shot was over-hooked, rolling off the green and into the water.
Less than impressed with his mistake, the PGA Tour star opted to take it out on his golf club, throwing it deep into the water before trundling up to the green. A drop green-side followed, before he managed to get up and down to limit the damage to a bogey, ending the opening round three-over-par.
Sanctions for throwing clubs on the PGA Tour are still unclear, and it is uncertain if Hadwin will be penalized by the authorities for his behavior. Rory McIlroy, a four-time major champion, has faced consequences for throwing clubs during PGA Tour events in the past.
In 2015 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, McIlroy expressed his frustrations by throwing a three iron into a water hazard, similar to Hadwin. McIlroy admitted that he allowed his frustration to control him.
During a moment of intense emotion, I made a spontaneous decision that I may not have made under normal circumstances.
If it had been a different club, I likely wouldn’t have acted in the same way. I realized that I didn’t need the three-iron for the remaining holes of the round, so I took the risk. In retrospect, I acknowledge that my actions were not something I am proud of.
McIlroy was fined £20,000 ($25k) at first, but it was later lowered to £4,000 ($5k) after he apologized for throwing his club on live TV. Hadwin is aiming to avoid a similar penalty at TPC Sawgrass and also needs to perform well in round two to advance to the weekend.