U.S. Open: Tony Finau, Ludvig Åberg kiss possibilities goodbye on 13

One gap took down two contenders on Saturday afternoon on the U.S. Open.

The quick, dogleg proper thirteenth gap, which solely measures 368 yards, was a beast—at the very least for Tony Finau and Ludvig Åberg.

When Finau stepped on the thirteenth tee, he had simply dropped again all the way down to 4-under for the championship, due to a bogey on the twelfth. Bogies don’t kill golfers in U.S. Opens, however something worse does.

After discovering the golf green off the tee, Finau had lower than 100 yards into the pin, which sat on a bit shelf on the entrance proper nook of the inexperienced. A false entrance repels something a tad quick, whereas a slope past the pin knocks something lengthy right into a sand lure that should be averted.

Accuracy on this method was paramount, and each Finau and Åberg wound up making a large number of issues.

Finau’s second shot got here up quick, as his ball rolled all the best way down the slope, settling 30 yards in need of the inexperienced. He determined to convey the putter out, however that try failed miserably. Finau raced his putt properly previous the flag, and it ended up within the bunker.

The ping-ponging had begun.

Photograph by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Pictures

“Didn’t have an excellent lie. Didn’t actually need to pitch it,” Finau mentioned of his third shot.

“Ended up taking part in ping-pong there.”

His bunker shot then went too far, settling in an space not removed from the place his second shot had stopped. He wound up making a triple bogey seven, knocking him all the best way all the way down to 1-under.

“13 goes to leap out at me as a gap that was the hardest pin on the entire championship, in my view,” Finau added.

“That inexperienced is fairly loopy proper there the place that pin is—simply the improper time to overlook a shot. Something can occur on this golf course. I’m simply proud of the best way I completed.”

Finau closed with 5 straight pars to card a 2-over 72.

Åberg, in the meantime, performed two teams behind Finau and made an identical mistake.

“What occurred to me on 13 is just not ultimate,” Åberg mentioned.

Photograph by Gregory Shamus/Getty Pictures

“It doesn’t essentially change the best way that you just attempt to method this golf course. I feel there’s solely a sure manner you possibly can play it. When you don’t play that manner, you’re going to get punished. That’s what I did.”

Not like Finau, the Swede tugged his drive on 13 into the native space left of the golf green. He then hit his second shot simply in need of the inexperienced, exacerbated by the extreme slope in entrance. Then Åberg airmailed his chip into the again bunker, and he, too, started to play some ping pong.

When his recreation on 13 ended, Åberg penciled in a dreadful seven, sending him again to 2-under for the championship. In the meantime, his taking part in associate, Bryson DeChambeau, had all of the momentum on the planet.

Now DeChambeau leads by three over Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, and Matthieu Pavon at 7-under. Åberg sits 5 again, whereas Finau is six. But when not for the unfortunate thirteenth gap, they’d nonetheless have an opportunity to win. And but, their ping-pong video games led to disappointment, however they ended their photographs at capturing that first main title, too.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.