Takahiro Hataji has created history with his first victory as a professional, becoming the first player from Japan to win the New Zealand Open in its 103-year history.
Take a moment to feel for this poor sap, whose lucky break turned into heartbreak at a recent charity tournament when he was randomly selected to try a putt for $10,000… only to watch it lip out in excruciating fashion.
It was the outcome everyone in the rain-soaked gallery at Oakdale Golf & Country Club wanted to see on Sunday, Canada’s own Nick Taylor walking away the winner at the RBC Canadian Open, becoming the first local in 69 years to win his country’s national title.
The putt didn’t have much in it, at least we thought. Turns out, it had a hair of right to left movement. Homa found this out in the most painful way imaginable:
It was the first such stoppage on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews and first in the US for the tour since the third round of the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Australian Golf Digest
