William Mouw had a disaster on the 16th. (Image: Getty)
It was all going well for William Mouw at The American Express tournament until he suffered a disaster on the par-5 16th in his second round.
The 24-year-old, who only turned professional two years ago, impressed with a round of 68 on the opening day, teeing off Friday at four-under-par.
And three birdies in the first 15 holes took him to six-under overall, before he made what proved to be a catastrophic decision.
A solid tee shot left Mouw contemplating reaching the green in two, and he decided to go for broke.
But he only contrived to pull his approach into a bunker on the West Stadium Course. This however, was no normal sand trap, with the spot notorious for being difficult to escape from.
And it was there that the nightmare began for the world No.169. He fired his bunker shot over the green into heavy rough, only to then go straight back into the sand with his fourth shot.
From there, it took him three attempts to escape, only to duly return to the same place when he again shot back through the green with his eighth effort. Mouw then opted to cut his losses and essentially played backwards just to get on the fairway.
Mouw is now tied for 151st place heading into the weekend. (Image: Getty)
But he still took two attempts from there to find the green and then a further two putts to finally hole out for a 13. Even then, the trouble wasn’t over as on the par-3 17th, a clearly rattled Mouw could only find the water off the tee.
He ended up making a triple bogey six, meaning he dropped 11 shots in two holes to fall to five-over. A par on the last was little consolation as he ended the day in 151st place overall.
Had he finished at six-under, he would have been tied for 58th. Charley Hoffman and Rico Hoey are the overall leaders going into the weekend on 16-under-par.
The tournament doesn’t end there for any of the players though. The American Express event, which features a three-course rotation, is unique in that the cut is not made until after 54 holes.
It was just the third PGA Tour event for Mouw in his rookie season on the tour. And despite showing flashes of what he can do over the first 33 holes, his stumbling finish has seen him hit the headlines in southern California for the wrong reasons.