Certain chip shots around the green are a lot like guitar solos – the really, really good ones have a tendency to melt your face off.
For me, the No. 1 face-melting chip of 2024 came off the wedge of Sahith Theegala on Friday of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. This contorted my face in such a way that I thought the damage was irreversible. I’m sure many of you could relate:
Come for the shot, stay for the reaction from the booth! 😂
Love to see it, @DanHicksNBC, @chambleebrandel, @miketirico, @BradFaxon pic.twitter.com/SVLeav7flR
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024
Even the four-man NBC booth couldn’t hold back their shock and awe over this one.
The shot of the day belongs to Eddy Lai 😳
An unbelievable birdie on the difficult par 3, 11th at the @TPC_Toronto North Course. pic.twitter.com/hevIcIacp6
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) September 8, 2024
Fortunately, my face didn’t fully melt off. That was up until Sunday, when the PGA Tour Americas posted a clip from the Fortinet Cup Championship featuring a chip so disgusting it’ll make you damn near want to puke. Here’s Eddy Lai greenside at the par-3 11th at TPC Toronto’s difficult North Course, where Lai had to aim about 10 yards left of the pin, land it in the rough first, allow it to take three or four hops in said rough before getting it to trickle down all the way into the cup. All while rain is pelting the ground. True story:
Absolutely disgusting, and it came at just the right time – immediately after a double bogey at the par-4 10th. A shot like that will lessen the sting of a double in a big, big way.
Unfortunately, Lai’s T-23 finish was not nearly enough to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card, but that’s still a chip he, and we, won’t soon forget.
