Hunter Mahan and the greatest choke artists of all time

By JON KUIPERIJ

Moments after Rickie Fowler gave the Americans a chance to win the Ryder Cup, Hunter Mahan flubbed it away.

Mahan succumbed to the pressure on the 17th hole Monday, chunking a chip to hand Europe a 14.5-13.5 victory in this year’s international golf showdown. Mahan’s inability to come through in the clutch looked even worse after the 21-year-old Fowler had birdied the final three holes of his round to earn a half-point and keep the U.S. in contention into the final match.

Mahan is hardly the first to wilt in the heat of the spotlight. Here’s a look at six classic meltdowns when the stakes were at their highest.

Jean Van de Velde, 1999 British Open

The Frenchman’s debacle on the final hole has to be the greatest individual gag job in the history of sports.

Despite owning a three-shot lead, Van de Velde elected to hit driver off the tee and was actually fortunate to keep the ball in play. Then, instead of laying up, he went for the green on his second shot and drilled it off the greenside grandstands and into knee-deep rough. Van de Velde chunked his third shot into Barry Burn, where he ridiculously actually considered hitting out of shin-deep water before taking a drop. He then hit his fifth shot into a bunker and needed to get up and down for a triple-bogey seven, forcing a three-way playoff that he eventually lost to Paul Lawrie.

At least Van de Velde could laugh at himself. He later replayed Carnoustie’s 18th hole using only a putter for a commercial, scoring a double bogey on his third attempt.

Phil Mickelson, 2006 U.S. Open

Lefty played the first 71 holes like the best golfer in the world, then resembled a drunken Saturday afternoon hacker on the final hole. Needing a par to win or a bogey to force a playoff, Mickelson hit a tent with his drive, then drilled his second shot off a tree and then duffed his next shot into a sand trap. His bogey putt ended up 10 feet past the hole as Mickelson finished with a double-bogey and in second place.

“I just can’t believe that I did that,” said Mickelson. “I am such an idiot.”

Lindsey Jacobellis, 2006 Olympics

The American was coasting to gold in snowboard cross when the urge to showboat got the best of her. With a three-second lead over Tanja Frieden of Switzerland, Jacobellis tried an unnecessary backside method grab on the second-last jump of the course and wiped out just before the finish line, forcing her to settle for silver.

“Snowboard

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Posted by zoocorp
2 years ago

I have to agree with all that was said above. They got lucky on some matches to have the 2 point lead going into late Sat. & Sun., but the real choke was getting wiped out in session 3 - .5 to 5.5 It was going to take a miracle for US to win after Session 3 disaster. However, if you told me that it would come down to the final match before the day started with Mahan v. McDowell, I would have given you the Americans and 5 to 1 odds. Even after his performance of 2 years ago, there was no way that Mahan was going to beat McDowell the way he was playing during the tournament. Just look at 15. After McDowell's first 3 shots, Mahan's putt should have been conceded but he comes up with a 20 footer to save par, and he'd been doing shit like that all weekend. I took the US before the games started owing to their length and ability to hit over the trouble areas even with the weather., but after session 3, I already counted it as a loss.

Posted by onebadgolfer
2 years ago

The mere suggestion that Mahan choked is absurd, and I'd suggest the writer go tackle a subject he knows something about. It's plainly obvious he's never held a golf club in his hands. Did Mahan hit a good pitch at 17? No, but the next golfer who makes every shot the way he intends will be the first one in history to do so. McDowell made five birdies in his singles match and all but one of them was from inside 10 feet. What would like Mahan to have done, sneak up and knock McDowell's birdie putts further from the hole while no one was watching?

Posted by grimson
2 years ago

So what if Charles Barkely or anyone else would have got the chip "closer"? He was already 2 down at the time and had to WIN the hole. Unless he actually chipped it in - about a 50 to 1 shot - then the chunked chip really doesn't matter. Think about this - if 'hero' Ricky Fowler hadn't dropped the wrong ball in his alternate shot match with Jim Furyk, assuming everything else remained the same (which you can't really do except for argument's sake), the US would have won an extra half-point and therefore retained the Cup.

Posted by VegasGourmet
2 years ago

Typical writing from someone who knows little about golf, less about golf pros today, and even less about the Ryder Cup. Not only was McDowell the betting favorite in Vegas and was superb in his match play; but if only one other match, over the 4-day period, had been halved (not even won, just halved), The United States would have retained the Cup. Perhaps you need to chat with Tiger, Phil, Jim and some of the other experienced pros about their early-round play and ask them if it should all have been up to Mahan to retain the Cup.

Posted by DogBettor
2 years ago

Charles Barkley would have gotten the chip on 16 closer. Take off the glasses for Christ's sake. If you do choke, it makes you look like a hot dog who dosn't really care. Of course all the bawling afterwards proves he did care. I guess he probably get a 100k or so a year to wear the shades...

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Posted by VegasGourmet
2 years ago

"Typical writing from someone who knows little about golf, less about golf pros today, and even less about the Ryder Cup. Not only was McDowell the betting favorite in Vegas and was superb in his match play; but if only one other match, over the 4-da..."

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