PINEHURST, N.C. — A mindless gaffe cost Hunter Mahan dearly in the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday at Pinehurst No. 2.
Mahan inadvertently hit playing partner Jamie Donaldson’s ball on the 18th hole and he missed the cut because of it after incurring a two-stroke penalty.
Mahan played Donaldson’s ball out of the 18th fairway (their ninth hole of the round) and was assessed the two-shot penalty, which gave him a double-bogey 6 on the hole instead of a par 4 and left him at 6-over par for the tournament — one shot outside the cutline.
Mahan, who should have shot an even-par 70 for the round, instead signed for a 72.
After Mahan hit, Donaldson unwittingly hit Mahan’s ball and also was assessed a two-shot penalty. He finished with a second consecutive 81 to finish 11-over for the two rounds and was never a factor to make the cut.
The players and their caddies did not realize the gaffe until they arrived at the green to mark their respective balls.
“Not much to describe. I just hit the wrong ball,’’ Mahan said. “It was one of those things I couldn’t explain to you. Off the tee, it looked like that’s where my ball should have been, and I couldn’t explain to you how it ended up where it did. Just got to pay more attention.
“It’s one of those fluke things. I’ve played a lot of rounds of golf now and it’s happened maybe one time before. It’s a fluke thing. I couldn’t tell you how or why it happened or … it was crazy. It was just strange.’’
Mahan’s caddie, John Wood, one of the most respected in the game, took full responsibility.
“It was 100 percent on me. I was the first one to the ball,’’ Wood said. “Off the tee, it looked like Hunter’s [tee shot] was in the left center and Jamie’s was on the left edge, and we got up there and they were switched and we didn’t realize it.’’
Wood said he didn’t realize the mistake “until I put the bag down on the 18th green,’’ when they looked to see which player was closer to the hole.
“That’s when we realized what happened,’’ he said. “Jamie realized it at first, I think, and it started to sink in. You can’t imagine yourself doing something colossally as stupid as that, but I did it. I won’t forgive myself very soon after this.’’
Asked if the balls were marked similarly, Wood said, “They both have kind of an interesting slash across the number, which is not a very common marking. The only thing I can think of is I saw a slash and assumed it was Hunter’s, because it’s not a very common marking. I don’t believe I did something that epically dumb, but I did.’’
Wood added, “Hunter was great about it.’’
“He had no reaction at all,’’ Wood said. “He went back and hit a good shot and ended up turning around and birdieing [No.] 1. He wasn’t upset. He was not happy, but he didn’t visibly change the way he was playing or thinking. It’s one of those things I still can’t grasp what happened. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Because it looked like … you are out here every day for 17 years, you know where the ball goes in the fairway.
“That was no excuse. It was my fault. I went to the ball first.’’