Rickie Fowler shoots a quintuple bogey. What are some of the highest single-hole scores in pro golf?
Rickie Fowler is surely joining the list of the highest single-hole scores in PGA Tour history. Let’s take a look at who awaits him there.
Following the Wyndham Championship, Rickie Fowler was the final player to make it into the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he might have cost himself a possibility to proceed to the next leg in incredible fashion.
The 33-year-old from California carded a quintuple-bogey nine on the par-4 18th hole at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Fowler needed to finish at least 11th place to make it to the BMW Championship next week, but his adventurous finishing hole at TPC Southwind took him from inside the top 20 of the leaderboard to tie for 60th.
Related: What to know about the 2022 FedExCup playoffs format
Fowler matched the highest single-hole score of his PGA Tour career with two shots in the water on 18 and a 6-foot putt missed.
Fowler is not the only golf player who has scored an embarrassingly-high score at some point in his career, however. Here is a list of some of the highest single-hole scores in pro golf
The highest single-hole scores in PGA history
12-Over Par
Kevin Na’s score of 16 on the par-4 9th hole at the 2011 Valero Texas Open during the 2011 Valero Texas Open is the most recent single-hole score on the list. It was also one of the most televised, with TPC San Antonio hoping for the consecutive follies to just stop. Na’s score included “an unplayable lie from the tee, a two-stroke penalty after the ball ricocheted off a tree and struck him, and five consecutive strokes from the woods.” Oh lord.
13-Over Par
John Daly scored a 13- over at the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational was something almost expected. The American required 18 strokes to complete the par-5 6th on the course at Bay Hill Club, and his score included six shots into the water.
16- Over par
While there is no evidence on the PGA Tour’s worse golf scores, Gary McCord carded a 16 on the par-3 16th at the 1986 Federal Express St. Jude Classic. McCord knocked five straight approach shots into the water before finishing the hole draining a 25-footer.
18-Over Par
Tommy Armour knocked 10 – 10 balls out of bounds on the par-5 17th for 23 at the 1927 Shawnee Open. He was literally golf’s first introduction to “archaeopteryx,” which is 15 or more over par. To top the Scot’s luck, the same thing happened the following week at the Open, confirming that even legends can fall into the trap of horrible scores during their careers.
19-Over Par
Ray Ainsley’s 23 on the par-4 16th during the 1938 U.S. Open was probably the worst single-hole golf score of all time on the PGA Tour.
Cherry Hills witnessed an Ainsley knocking it in the water, and repeatedly attempting to knock it out of the water.