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The 5 most crushing lip-outs of the 21st century

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Lip-outs have crushed the dreams of many golfers down the years, but what have been the harshest and most brutal of recent times? We thought we’d take a look back at some of the most significant lip-outs this century, and how each player reacted to the cruel twist of fate.

Tiger Woods – 2007 PGA Championship

Tiger Woods blitzed Southern Hills CC during the second round of the 2007 PGA Championship firing birdie after birdie to take charge of the event.

Woods faced a 15-foot putt on the final hole for the first-ever 62 at a major championship. But it wasn’t to be, as to Tiger’s disbelief, the ball caught a chunk of the hole and spat the ball out, leaving a stunned Woods a tap-in for 63.

“As far as that last putt, I was trying to make it. And I hit it a little bit firm and I thought I made it, because it was breaking at the end. I knew it broke a lot more at the end than at the beginning. Started diving. Evidently didn’t want to go in.”

Regardless, Woods would go on to win his 13th major championship after firing two subsequent rounds of 69.

Brandt Snedeker – 2009 BMW Championship

At Cog Hill in 2009, Brandt Snedeker looked almost assured of securing his place in the Tour Championship. A bogey would have done it on the final hole, and the Nashville native was sitting pretty facing a 15-foot putt on the final green for a par.

However, after knocking that putt three feet past the hole, everything unravelled…

Snedeker’s nightmare triple-bogey finish would put an end to his season.

“I just started thinking about the wrong things. I didn’t concentrate over the bogey putt. I was thinking about all the things THE TOUR Championship comes with and I did everything you’re not supposed to do…I can’t believe I did this. I just made a mess of it.”

In-Kyung Kim – 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship

A par on the final hole would have given Kim her first major championship back in 2012 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and it looked all but secure with the Korean facing just outside of a foot for her par on the par 5 18th. However, the golf god’s had other ideas. 

Following the miss, Kim would go on to lose in a playoff. 

Speaking a year later on the miss, Kim said:

“It was tough to handle at first. But I learned from it, and I can be an example to show young kids that it’s not always going to be glorious in victory out here.

Some people think it’s really difficult what happened. It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is what happens after that. Sometimes you have to pick yourself up. You either live happy or unhappy. I live to be happy.”

She would find redemption when winning the 2017 Women’s British Open.

Phil Mickelson – 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open

Lefty brought TPC Scottsdale to its knees during round one of the 2013 WMPO and gave himself an outside shot at his first-ever 59 on tour.

Facing a long birdie putt on his final hole, Mickelson stroked a beautiful putt that seemed destined to find the back of the cup, before taking a stunning detour at the last moment and spinning out.

Mickelson was in disbelief, and his caddie Bones was on the floor. It was to be a cruel 60.

“To have that putt on line, I am kind of mortified that it didn’t go in…. I am walking after it and somehow it moves at the end low and caught the lip. And even at that pace, I think it’s going to lip in.

That one’s tough to take because you don’t get those chances very often, but I’m ecstatic with 60.”

Mickelson would go on to win the title in Phoenix.

Phil Mickelson – 2016 Open Championship

Mickelson was looking for another milestone in 2016, this time at Royal Troon where he had designs on being the first player in history to shoot 62 in a major.

Lefty gave himself a wonderful opportunity at the last, and needing a birdie for the record-setting number, Mickelson felt the ghosts of the 2013 WMPO return.

At perfect pace, the ball looked good all the way before catching a large portion of the hole and staying out.

Understandably, Mickelson felt crushed.

“I want to shed a tear right now. That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that ball rolling right in the centre.

I went to go get it, I had that surge of adrenaline that I had just shot 62, and then I had the heartbreak that I didn’t and watched that ball lip out. It was, wow, that stings.”

Lefty would go on to finish runner-up to Henrik Stenson at the 2016 Open Championship.

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com.

19th Hole

‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

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An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.

However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.

Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.

Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”

Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.

Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.

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How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

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Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.

Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.

Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.

Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.

“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course.  Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”

According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.

“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”

Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out Young’s winning WITB here.

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Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

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Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.

Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.

Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.

The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.

Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”

“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”

Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.

However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.

“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”

Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.

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