Jones pitches (out of) a tent
If they handed out trophies for viral video, Matt Jones would have that prize wrapped up. Yes, his pitching wedge off the blue carpet in the hospitality tent near the ninth fairway was one to watch again and again.
Problem was, that wasn’t nearly the worst trouble he found himself in Saturday at the PGA Championship.
The Aussie’s fun, funny afternoon spent atop the leaderboard turned into something much different — and worse — when the sun started setting over Whistling Hills.
Jones never really got control of that swing that caused him to land his tee shot on the artificial turf in the Ninth Hole Skyboxes.
He played three of the last four holes out of the rough, and worse, and made two bogeys and a double. He finished the third round at 1-over 73.
Jones ended up coming in at 10 under for the tournament. Now, about that shot. Jones hooked his tee shot so badly on No. 9, he found himself climbing the stairs, shouldering his way through a crowd of a few hundred of his newest, bestest beer-drinking buddies in the tents left of the fairway.
What he discovered was a perfect lie — like something you’d see on the mats at the local muni driving range. He chose to play through instead of taking relief in the trampled down grass, down below, outside the tent.
“I hit it perfectly,” Jones said. “I just had the wrong line.”
Saving bogey from the hospitality tent is never anything to sneeze at, though.