Golf players are amazing creatures. They can hit a small ball over hundreds of yards with the ability to land it mere inches from the hole. However, give them an 18-inch putt to win a major and they fall to pieces. This was the case with Dustin Johnson who missed one of the easiest putts seen in major history trying to force a playoff in the 2015 US Open.
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With this mind, we look at some of the worst missed putts ever seen in some of golf's biggest arenas.
Ernie Els - 2014 British Open
Ernie Els is a legend of golf and winner of four majors, but even he isn't prone to missing small putts on the big stage. On the first hole of the 2014 British Open, Els hit his tee shot into the crowd, striking a spectator. A clearly shaken Els then proceeded to miss his par a mere foot from the hole. To make matters worse for Els, he then back handed the next putt only to miss that as well.
Scott Hoch - 1989 Masters
Scott Hoch was on the precipice of victory and his first ever green jacket. Hoch was mere feet away from claiming the 1989 Masters in a sudden death playoff against Nick Faldo. All he had to do was make a short two foot putt to secure par and he would walk away with the victory. Instead, his putt missed the hole completely and he ended up finishing with a bogey, causing a playoff. Faldo would go onto to win the Masters and Hoch would forever go down in golfing history as missing 'that' putt.
Charl Schwartzel - 2012 Deutsche Bank Championship
Charl Schwartzel achieved an unwanted feat of taking four putts to put the ball in the hole from a meagre three feet. Schwartzel, competing at Deutsche Bank Championship in 2012, caught the lip of the cup twice before missing a 20 centimetre tap in through frustration. The South African finished with a score of eight over 79 with the double bogey the low point of the round.
Doug Sanders - 1970 British Open
The original putting 'choker', Sanders had recovered from earlier trouble on the 17th to sit feet away from winning the 1970 British Open at St. Andrews. Instead, the nerves got to Sanders as he missed the putt and handed the victory to the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
I.K.Kim 2012 - Kraft Nabisco Championship
All that was required of Korean I.K. Kim was a simple putt to wrap up her first ever major tournament. Despite being only a foot long, the putt rimmed out much to the shock of Kim and the crowd. Kim went on to lose the playoff to fellow Korean Sun-Young Yoo and is still searching for her first major.
