Poston’s septuple-bogey – J.T. Poston found himself 80 feet from the hole on the par-5 13th at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut—then watched it unravel into a septuple-bogey 12. His third shot after backing off a pond led to water, two chips rolled back into the hazard, and
On Sunday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, the number 12 looked like it belonged to a different golfer entirely.
J.T. Poston had just two strokes in place by the time he stood 80 feet from the hole on the par-5 13th. The Travelers Championship can be a birdie fest, but that’s not how it played out for him. Instead, he recorded a septuple-bogey 12—despite being close enough to picture an easy recovery.
The moment that flipped everything came with his third shot. It landed nestled against the lip of the greenside bunker and then flew 22 feet from the sand to the fairway cut short of the green. Poston intentionally left it short of the putting surface. telling Golfweek he did it to avoid the pond guarding the opposite side of the green.
It didn’t matter. The chip that followed went 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. Even then, the hole wasn’t finished cleanly. He missed a 13-foot comebacker before tapping in for his 12. which became the highest single-hole score on the PGA Tour since Matthieu Pavon’s octuple-bogey 12 at last year’s RBC Canadian Open.
Poston later explained the thinking behind the moment that looked so risky in real time: “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.”.
Two holes later, he added a double bogey, then carried it home for a 6-over 76. That round dropped him to solo 69th. Earlier in the season, Poston had won the Memorial Tournament a few weeks ago, but on Sunday he beat just three players.
When the score finally settled, Poston didn’t leave the story there. He took to social media, tweeting the result alongside a GIF of another No. 12—Tom Brady—writing: “When in NE area I guess. Nice bounce back par on 14. On to the next!”
J.T. Poston Travelers Championship TPC River Highlands Cromwell Connecticut par-5 13th septuple-bogey 12 pond PGA Tour highest single-hole score Matthieu Pavon RBC Canadian Open Tom Brady GIF