From Left-Handed Chips to Right-Handed Whiffs: Thursday’s Weirdest Shots at Harbour Town

Harbour Town has long since been one of the crown jewel’s of Pete Dye’s legacy. But on Thursday, the iconic layout took on a different identity. It produced one of the strangest opening rounds in recent memory, filled with creativity, chaos, and straight up whiffs.

And no moment captured that creativity better than Rickie Fowler.

Fowler’s drive was pulled left on the par-5 15th, placing him in a waste bunker. Normally, the penalty for missing in the waste bunker is a simple layup back into the fairway as overhanging trees limit any chance of going for the green. Unfortunately for Rickie, his ball coasted right up against one of those trees. So, left with very few options, Rickie turned the clubface around and chipped out using the back of his iron.

He would go on to make par on the 15th en route to a 6-under 65.

However, he wasn’t the only player with trouble left of the fairway on 15

Chris Gotterup found himself in the native area as well. Gotterup’s drive settled in between a group of 3 trees. Thinking he had a swing, he choked up on his 8 iron, and attempted to punch the ball some 150 yards up the fairway. Woefully, the trees had other plans.

Despite the whiff costing him a double-bogey, he seemed to be in good spirits posting to X after his round. He closed with a 1-under round and is set to tee off Friday at 1:30 with Viktor Hovland.

That leaves us with one. Chaos.

When chaos is mentioned, there’s really only one man for the job: Jordan Spieth. Follow Spieth for 18 holes and you’re bound to see just about everything. Chip-ins, 50-foot bombs, and even the occasional 60-yard block slice.

That exact miss showed up on the 8th hole. Normally, a ball that far offline would be an easy out-of-bounds call, but Harbour Town, much like Spieth, is anything but typical. Built within a residential community, the PGA Tour installs fencing along OB lines to limit access. Spieth’s ball came to rest on that fencing, and it was ultimately ruled out-of-bounds after being deemed to be resting on the boundary. The situation called for a pretty comical interaction. Take a look below.

We’re not done with Jordan yet though, don’t worry. Just 5 holes after nearly breaking a window, he nearly broke the flagstick on the 13th.

Despite knocking it off the flagstick, he would miss the putt, and finish his day at 2-under.

While it is only Thursday, the PGA Tour’s fourth signature event of the season is already off to a feral start. With three days to go, and high winds forecasted for all 3 of them, chances are the wild moments aren’t done yet.

Harbour Town Marina

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