Chesson Hadley, who has not won on tour in seven years, was on the verge of winning the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, but he couldn’t keep it together during the latter half of his final round and let an opportunity he may not get for another seven years, slip through his fingers.
Sometimes golfers in Hadley’s position catch an unlucky break during the finishing stretch, such as finding their ball in a divot or a buried lie, or knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. If that was the case with Hadley we wouldn’t be writing about him. It wasn’t an epic and sudden collapse at a golf major like Jean Van de Velde at the British Open. Rather, it was a slow, steady folding of the tent.
After opening with a -6 round, Hadley began backsliding. Still, he entered the final round with a 4 stroke lead on the field. Watching his play during the closing holes one could see it was a clear case of his nerves simply unravelling. You can easily identify with what golfers are going through in these situations. Desperate and feeling cornered you look for any way to stop the bleeding. The mind races and you start seeing things, and in Hadley’s case, he saw fire ants. Lots and lots of fire ants. So many, in fact, that he claimed he ought to get relief (from a rather dicey lie). The rule official disagreed, “I don’t see any.” And with that, Hadley’s fate was sealed. Bryson DeChambeau, another guy who’s always trying to bend the rules in his favor, has also played the “fire ant” card, to no avail.
Our recommendation to Hadley - and any other golfer who happens to be leading entering the final round is this: Ditch the Titleist, Callaway, Nike, and Taylor Made golf hats before you tee off and replace them with our Back 9 golf hat. Chances are you won’t have to go looking for fire ants.
Lastly, congrats to underdog and Monday qualifier, Broc Everett, who kept it together and cashed a nice check for $33,000.
