It might be the most common number in New England, but you won’t find many 12’s around TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Especially dozens that look like J.T. Poston’s.
The Travelers Championship is traditionally a birdie fest, but Poston was enjoying none of that Sunday at the par-5 13th hole. Poston recorded a septuple-bogey 12 despite being just 80 feet from the hole after his first two strokes.
What the heck happened from there?
Poston’s third shot, nestled against the lip of the greenside bunker, traveled just 22 feet from the sand to the fairway cut short of the green; Poston told Golfweek he intentionally left that shot short of the putting surface, hoping to avoid the pond that guards the opposite side of the green. Of course, he ended up wet anyway, sending his chip through the green and into the water.
Poston rinsed two more shots, dropping each time on the bank only to have his chip roll back into the water. He finally found the green with his 10th shot, though he’d miss a 13-foot comebacker before tapping in for his 12, which is the highest single-hole score on the PGA Tour since Matthieu Pavon’s octuple-bogey 12 at last year’s RBC Canadian Open.
Here was Poston’s explanation to Golfweek: “Putting it [from the bank], I feel like it’s just going to hop and that takes all the speed out of it. And you’ve got this big false front you got to get it over. So, my worry with trying to putt it was it would not have enough speed to really get there. Yeah, I mean, obviously, in hindsight, I would have just hit to 12 feet and made my 7, but it’s one of those where, like, you feel like you can hit the shot, and so you try and execute it. I mean, we were in 40th place.”
Poston carded a double bogey two holes later en route to a 6-over 76 that dropped him to solo 69th. Poston, who won the Memorial Tournament a few weeks ago, beat just three players.
Poston later had some fun on social media, tweeting this along with a GIF of another No. 12, Tom Brady: “When in NE area I guess. Nice bounce back par on 14. On to the next!”