Watch: Scottie Scheffler nearly aces 16th hole, tee ball ends up off green

Pay no attention to the ShotLink chart; Scottie Scheffler was a foot away from a hole-in-one at TPC Scottsdale’s 16^th hole on Friday at the WM Phoenix Open.

So, then how did his tee ball end up coming to rest off the putting surface?

Here’s how: Scheffler hit a nice cut into the green at the 158-yard stadium hole, and his ball landed about 15 feet left of the flag before beginning it’s trundle toward the cup. The ball appeared to be losing its steam about a foot out, but then a huge gust of wind, already bending the flagstick, sped the roll back up and sent the ball just off the green, about 16 feet from the hole.

“Easy,” said the announced. “Whoa! This is going to go off the green. Somebody just turned on the wind machine at 16. That ball was 10 inches at one point.”

“It should have been probably 6 feet on left side of the hole,” Scheffler said afterward. “It ended up being like 20 feet off the green. It was weird. Tough break.”

He then added: “My ball flew into the green kind of funny to where I could tell something was happening up there. Then the flags started whipping. Then all of a sudden my ball started going and people started booing me, which I didn’t appreciate too much. It was a pretty good shot to be getting booed, but it happens.”

Scheffler would go on to two-putt for a disappointing par. But he’d respond with four straight birdies after that, beginning with the par-4 17^th hole, to tie Jon Rahm for the tournament lead.