By Alex Myers
John Senden’s driver snapped mid-swing during the opening round of the Australian PGA Championship on Thursday causing him to whiff on a tee shot and the club’s shaft to stab him in the hand. The good news for the Aussie? He appeared to walk away from the bizarre incident without a serious injury. The bad news? The stroke counted. The rules of golf can be pretty brutal, huh?
Check out the wild sequence from this European Tour event in full speed:
Listen to the sound as Senden's shaft snaps and he hits the ground with the club. Ugh. pic.twitter.com/Wwqjc5EVRD
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) November 29, 2018
And here it is in slow-motion:
Have you ever seen a driver snap mid-swing?
Well, now you have…#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/by0fpsMGcm
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 29, 2018
And here’s a different angle in which you can better see the club break, which occurred by the grip:
Here it is in super slo-mo (wait for the end) pic.twitter.com/UvtCGCpb29
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) November 29, 2018
After a lengthy discussion with a rules official, Senden was told the swing on the par-5 9th counted as a shot and that he’d have to play his second shot with the ball teed up high despite not having use of his driver anymore. And let’s just say playing partner Geoff Ogilvy was NOT happy about the ruling (NSFW language):
John Senden's driver snapped in the grip in his backswing. He missed the ball and stabbed himself with a jagged shaft. The rules official says the stroke counts. Geoff Ogilvy's reaction: pic.twitter.com/uGuAqnZjMa
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) November 29, 2018
Senden wound up making bogey, which, all things considered, was a great result. The two-time PGA Tour winner made the turn at minus one — both in the score and in drivers.