PGA Tour pro is 59 feet from hole. He finishes eight shots later

Brooks Koepka, who consulted on the renovation at Memorial Park muni, described the areas around this green this way:

They’ll test the pros. 

“We talked about bunkers quite a lot,” Koepka said. “I felt the one thing where if I get a good lie in a bunker, I can pretty much get it up and down, looking to hole it.

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“And then when you take that and look at — because this place isn’t just for this week, this place, it’s for the 51 other weeks a year, right? There’s so many people that come out here and can play golf. And for amateurs, I feel like it’s — the bunker isn’t a place for them to be greenside. They’re not great out of bunkers, most of them. We play with a lot of amateurs pretty much every week and it’s difficult for them. 

“And then as far as pros, it’s very easy for pros. If they’ve got a good lie, you’re looking to hole it. So if you can remove that and put no bunkers, a lot of fairway, a lot of undulation around, first off, I think it gives the amateurs — they can always putt it, right? Makes it a little easier for the average guy to come around and play this place. They don’t have to pull 60 [degree wedge]; they can if they want to. And then pros, you’ve got every option from putter, lob wedge, … wedge, a bump with a 6-iron, a fairway wood. I mean, I’ve seen it all. 

“But I think sometimes when pros get too many options, it becomes a little bit more difficult than just, oh, there’s one option, take a 60 and kind of spin it. It makes it a little bit tougher because you never know which one’s quite the right play.”

With that introduction, the story goes to Kris Ventura. He’s a 31-year-old pro from Norway. He played his college golf at Oklahoma State. He’s collected $3 million in prize money between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour. And on Thursday, during the first round of the PGA Tour’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, he was just to the left of the green and 59 feet from the hole after two shots on Memorial Park’s 390-yard par-4 13th hole, his fourth hole of the day after starting play on the back nine.   

And then? 

He was tested. Ventura walked away with a sextuple-bogey 10. 

Below is how he got there:

– Shot three: This went across the putting surface and finished on the right side of the green. He now had 53 feet to the hole. 

– Shot four: This stayed on the right side of the green. He now had 51 feet to the hole. 

– Shot five: This also stayed on the right side of the green. He stayed 51 feet away from the hole. 

– Shot six: This went across the putting surface and back to the left side of the green. He had 42 feet to the hole. 

– Shot seven: Back across the green. Fifty-four feet to the cup. 

– Shot eight: Ventura found the green. He faced a 17-footer for a nine. 

– Shot nine: He missed. 

– Shot 10: From 6 inches away, Ventura tapped in. 

From there, he finished with a seven-over 42 for his front nine. Below is a look at how he played the 13th.