Mackenzie Hughes gets worst break of 2021 U.S. Open when ball gets stuck in tree
After a shaky start to his final round, Mackenzie Hughes played himself back into contention by the turn on Sunday at the U.S. Open.
The overnight co-leader bogeyed three of his first six holes, but birdied Nos. 7 and 9 to sit two back with nine to play at Torrey Pines South.
After a par at the 10th, the 30-year-old Canadian got the worst break of anyone in the championship.
Hughes pulled his tee shot on the long par-3 11th and in the televised scramble to see where his ball finished, the fans provided the giveaway: it was stuck in a tree.
A video replay, however, showed that the ball didn’t end there on the fly; it hit the cart path, bounced skyward and finished comfortably on a limb.
Hughes was able to identify his ball and take the penalty stroke. He eventually made a double bogey-5 to drop to 2 under par, three back as playing competitor/leader Louis Oosthuizen made bogey on the same hole. Hughes then bogeyed the 12th hole to fall out of contention.