ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — On Thursday, Tiger Woods rinsed his approach at the par-4 first hole from a divot into the Swilcan Burn fronting the green. It was an inauspicious start that resulted in a double bogey en route to shooting 78.
Unlucky? Rub of the green, Old Tom Morris would likely have said.
On Friday, China’s Haotong Li was on the right side of a good break when his approach at the first from 75 yards hit the rock wall of the Swilcan Burn, the famous winding waterway that empties into St Andrews Bay alongside the two-mile West Sands Beach, and ricocheted out of the water and back towards him. He avoided a penalty shot and faced a 44-yard pitch over the Burn.
“That’s just not playing fair is it,” an announcer on Sky Sports said.
“We shouldn’t laugh,” his broadcast partner added.
Li’s disgust was written all over his face and that’s before it would go from bad to worse. Li, 26, who won the BMW International Open on the DP World Tour two weeks ago, failed to take advantage of his good fortune. He deposited the next shot into the water anyway and had to sink a 14-foot putt to salvage a triple-bogey 7.
Off the stones in the burn and almost all the way back to him.
Haotong Li's reaction says it all. 😅 #TheOpen
📺: @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/PisoTFZfEQ— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 15, 2022