US Open: Jordan Spieth's bunker escape foiled by hidden rake in the rough!
Friday 14 June 2019 23:57, UK
Jordan Spieth's eventful US Open took another bizarre turn in the second round when he was scuppered by a hidden rake at Pebble Beach!
Spieth hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons on day one after he took out his frustrations on caddie, Michael Greller, in a remarkable outburst on the eighth hole after he drove into water and then knocked his third shot beyond the green.
The three-time major winner made it abundantly clear that he blamed Greller for the misjudgements, shouting: "Two perfect shots, Michael. You got me in the water on one and over the green on the other."
Spieth was widely criticised for his display of petulance as he opened with a one-over 72 and did not speak to reporters afterwards, but he made a strong start to his second round with three birdies over his first four holes which got him to two under par.
He then mixed a pair of bogeys with two more birdies as he covered the back nine in 33 strokes, including only two pars, but he suffered a setback on the 502-yard par-four second after he blocked his drive into a fairway bunker on the right.
The 25-year-old appeared to make an excellent connection with his second from the sand and his ball just cleared the front lip of the trap, but it clattered into a rake that was hidden in the rough and went unnoticed by both Spieth and Greller.
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Spieth was astonished by the result and, with a horrid lie in the thick rough, his only option was to stab back into the fairway, although he lifted his spirits with a good fourth shot to seven feet which he converted to limit the damage to just a bogey.
He went on to make two further birdies and another pair of bogeys to complete an erratic 69 which left him at one under for the tournament, and Spieth did stop to discuss his mishap in the bunker at the second, although he was not grilled on Thursday's outburst.
"The ball was above my feet in almost a little downslope, and I was trying to hit a six-iron 200 yards," he said. "So in the first place it was a really, really tough shot, but I had a clean lie. Thought I could clear the lip, and when I hit it, all I heard was the rake. I guess it slammed into the rake and came back and kind of buried down into the tall grass.
"So if it didn't hit the rake, I don't know if it had enough to get anywhere near the green or if it would have been way short or what, but certainly it would have been in a better position than it went to.
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"And that's on me. I've just got to look at all options ahead of me. And if there's rakes in front of the bunker, typically we pull them out. But when I was in it, I couldn't see it. So it was kind of a weird set of events.
"Honestly, the only upsetting part was where the ball went after that, because it's on me to hit the rake. Sometimes it'd hit the rake and pop up and be on the fairway, right? But it ended up in a pretty bad spot. I did well a make a five for sure."
Click on the video above to see Spieth's bizarre encounter with a rake on day two at Pebble Beach...
