As a live guest on the final day of the Honda Classic, Jack Nicklaus said that in his career, he didn't like to play the final round with a lot of shots ahead.
A few hours later, when Daniel Berger was in the final hole in the rain, attacking the green and launching a shot, I was afraid to feel the same way.
In the PGA Tour that ended in the early morning of Beijing time, Berger originally held the excellent situation of leading 5 strokes after three rounds, how to expect that he only played 2 bogeys in total on the first 54 holes, swallowed 1 double bogey and 2 bogeys on 6 holes before Sunday, and finally only handed over a +4 74 throughout the day, falling from the lead all the way to the 4th place alone, and had to watch the previous group of Departing Sepp Straka stage a big counterattack and become the first Austrian champion in the history of the PGA Tour.
Berger final day crashed
"It's just a bad round of ball, it can happen at any time." Berger, who missed out on the PGA Tour's fifth title on his doorstep in Florida, consoled himself after the game, "I'm not going to dwell too much on this." Just failed to play a quality ball at the right time. To be honest, I warmed up well and felt good today. It's just that the putter doesn't listen too much, and if you don't push well, you won't get a good result. That's what it is today..."
Since 2010, golfers who have scored an absolute 5(or more) of finishes after three rounds have a 76.9% win rate on the PGA Tour. And in the category of the world's top 25 "masters" like Berger (21st), the 5-shot lead has occurred 17 times, 16 of which have been laughed to the end as expected.
The only time the collapse was a scene that Chinese fans are very familiar with - the 2017 World Championship - HSBC Championship, Dustin Johnson took a 6-shot lead after 54 holes, but on Sunday, Sheshan fell into the heat and gave the championship to Justin Rose.
DJ was attacked in Shanghai that year
Of course, you can also count the "cup" of the anniversary of the golf tournament last year: Spain's Joan Ram also led by 6 strokes in three rounds, but because he tested positive for the new crown virus, he was forced to withdraw from the final round, and terminated the defending game in a worldwide shock. Since Ram didn't finish four rounds, he didn't count this as a "leading title loss" in the PGA Tour's official statistics.
And since the PGA Tour (including its predecessor) was founded in 1929, no one has ever lost a championship with a 7-stroke lead and 18 holes to play — that is, a 6 -- the limit of the world's highest level tour "crash." In the history of the PGA Tour, this has happened seven times. Next, we will take stock of the causes and consequences of these 7 "tragedies" in chronological order. At least compared to them, Berger is still a "little witch":
1928 Florida Open
Bobby Crookschenk
In the 1920s, professional players competed on the Tour organized by the PGA of America, which is also considered the predecessor of the PGA Tour. Scotsman Bobby Cruickshank is one of the best, winning a total of 17 PGA Tour titles.
However, the 1928 Florida Open did not become one of the wins. There are not many details of the game to this day, but we only know that Crookschenk obviously did not like the last day of the game, he set off with a 6-stroke advantage, but finally exploded 80, allowing The American Henry Ciuci to pick up his first PGA Tour title in vain.
Diplomat Classic 1969
Guy Brewer
As the green jacket winner of the 1967 Masters, American Gay Brewer took the lead from day one and established a 6-stroke advantage after three rounds.
However, on the final day, Brewer only scored 73, losing to another Grand Slam winner, Arnold Palmer, who accepted the gift and won the 56th PGA Tour trophy in his life.
Brewer never had a chance to avenge that defeat again, because it was the first and only time the Diplomats Classic had been held.
1983 Anheisbshi Classic
Hal Sutton
Hal Sutton was the Rookie of the Year at the 1982 PGA Tour, but at the 1983 PGA Tour in Virginia, he gave up his three-round lead and took a 6-stroke advantage to finish tied for 3rd place with a disappointing 77. Tiger Woods' most successful black golfer, Calvin Peete, won his third of his 12 PGA Tour wins, relying on a final-day 69.
However, just as Ram commemorated the highball game only a month after retiring, he won the U.S. Open. Sutton didn't lose long either, and just two weeks later he won his first Grand Slam victory at the 1983 PGA Championship. Saion lost his horse, and he knew that it was not a blessing.
1996 Masters
Greg Norman
It is also one of the most famous "crashes" in the history of the Grand Slam. After finishing runners-up twice at Augusta, Norman shot a record 63 in the first round of the 1986 Masters, and after three rounds, he was 6 strokes ahead of Nick Faldo, and one of the "Jaws" was almost in the green jacket, and the first Masters champion from Australia was about to come out.
But golf has never been predestined. Like Berger in the early hours of this morning, Norman's lead was lost without a few holes, and he actually swallowed 2 double bogeys and 5 bogeys in the 12th hole "Amen Corner".
78, 6 over par! Norman's collapse gave Nick Faldo a great chance to win the third green jacket, the Englishman shot 67 that day, and finally beat Norman by 5, achieving an earth-shattering 11-stroke counterattack, but after the game, Faldo's apologies seemed to be more than ecstatic. Even with a 78, Norman still finished second, but he was insulated from his coveted green jacket. The Australian Augusta's first crown was even more than 17 years away, until Adam Scott in 2013...
2005 United Bank Championship
Sergio Garcia
In the precursor to this Wells Fargo Championship, Garcia was 6 strokes ahead of Vijay Singer at the final round of kick-off in 2005. Unfortunately, on Sunday, espanyol was in a slump and was tied after the transition.
Fortunately, the key birdie on the 16th hole gave Garcia a one-shot lead again. However, psychological fragility became the lifeblood of the "Holy Child", and he swallowed the deadly bogey on the last hole, and finally finished with a 72, and could only enter the three-player extra hole with Singer and Jim Furyk.
Four holes were played on the extra hole, but Garcia was out early on the first hole by pushing three. Singer, who was at the peak of his form, laughed to the end.
"They say you learn more from your defeat than you do from your victory." Garcia said after the game, "And I have a lot to learn from this week. Having said that, two years later at the British Open, he once again lost the title to a crash on the last hole + 1.
2012 Phoenix Open
Spencer Levine
That year, for two consecutive weeks, the PGA Tour staged a reversal show that came later, and the protagonist turned out to be the same person.
Before coming to Phoenix, American Kyle Stanley threw in the last hole of the Farmers Insurance Open and pushed three times, and actually messed up a 3-stroke lead, and finally lost the championship on the hole. Just seven days later, the Phoenix Open repeated the same drama, only this time Stanley became a player who left the stadium laughing, and the crasher became compatriot Spencer Levin.
Levin, who scored a 6-stroke lead, was in a series of positions in the final round, finishing with only a +4 of 75. In contrast, Stanley, who was originally 8 strokes behind Levin, shot a 65 of -6, especially the winning birdie on the last hole, and did not even have to play the extra hole, in just one week from hell to heaven, winning the first PGA Tour title.
Levin, however, has not been able to wait for redemption, and has not yet been able to win the first PGA Tour.
2017 World Championships - HSBC Champions
Dustin Johnson
Is that true, it's finally back to the Sunday afternoon in Shanghai that we're familiar with — world number one, Grand Slam champion, with 18 holes left to lead by 6? For Dustin Johnson, the final round is a cutscene, isn't it?
Unfortunately, the Level 6 wind blowing on Sheshan Sunday created the biggest reversal in the history of the World Championships.
As if repeating the mistakes of the 6 predecessors introduced above, DJ did not play at his level in the final round. He struggled to shoot a 77 (including swallowing a bogey on 5 consecutive holes) while Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose handed over a staggering 67-stroke scorecard, including a 31 on the back nine holes, to finish from an 8-stroke adversity to win his first world championship title
However, like Stanley, DJ redeemed himself with a championship at the sentinel championship he participated in.
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