On Thursday, in the first round of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Spain’s Jon Rahm, the reigning U.S. Open champion, missed a 10-inch putt. Ok, due to the fact that this happened in round one, may not go down in history as one of the more embarrassing missed putts ever, but it is one of the shortest missed putts. Let’s take a look at five of the most famous missed short putts ever.
5) Doug Saunders
At the 1970 British Open, Doug Saunders of Cedartown, Georgia missed an easy three-foot putt on the 18th hole of round four for a chance to win his first major title. Jack Nicklaus forced a playoff and captured his eighth major title.
4) Scott Hoch
At the 1989 Masters, Scott Hoch of Raleigh, North Carolina missed out on his best opportunity to win a major title. He missed a two-foot putt on the first playoff hole. Nick Faldo of Welwyn Garden City, England was the eventual champion.
3) Ernie Els
On the first hole of the Masters in 2016, Els missed five putts after initially having a three-foot putt for par. He ended up posting a score of nine, the worst score ever on the first hole in the history of the Masters tournament.
2) Hennie Otto
On the 12th hole of the 2005 Nashua Masters, Hennie Otto of Boksburg, South Africa took six putts to get the golf ball into the hole. The commentator stated “to see a professional golfer do that is totally ridiculous.”
1) Hale Irwin
At the 1983 British Open, Hale Irwin of Joplin, Missouri, in fact missed a one-inch putt according to Guy Yocom of Golf Digest. The miss happened on the 14th hole in the third round. Irwin ended up finishing tied for second place with Andy Bean, and only one stroke back of the winner, Tom Watson. For Watson, this was his fifth British Open.
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