PGA Tour cult hero makes brutal admission after collapse

Joel Dahmen had one hand on his second PGA Tour title. Then it slipped.

The PGA Tour cult hero, who won the Corales Puntacana Championship in 2021, was bidding to win it again on Sunday before a shocking collapse.

Dahmen, 37, was left stunned after blowing a two-shot lead with only three holes to play, handing South African Garrick Higgo a first Tour win in almost four years.

On the brink of a wire-to-wire win, Dahmen’s lead was cut to one after a bogey on the par-4 16th. What followed was “inexcusable”.

A two-footer for par on the penultimate hole lipped out and the American dropped one final shot on the 18th hole to complete a truly forgettable day.

Unfortunately, it might not be that easy.

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“This one could take a while to get over,” he said in the immediate aftermath of defeat. “It’s one of those things, you learn more in defeat unfortunately. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.

“Like I said, I still think I’m in a little bit of shock. Felt like I was in a good head space. I was in a good head space but sometimes your body doesn’t cooperate.”

Of his three-over-par finish, Dahmen added: “It’s not how you win a golf tournament, I’ll tell you that. I don’t deserve to win it.

“You know, bogeying the last three is inexcusable. Middle of the fairway with an 8-iron on 16 to hit it where I hit it, you can’t get up and down over there.

“I don’t know what happened on the short one on 17. I mean I’m obviously nervous, but unfortunately, I’m prone to that at times. You can call it lapse in concentration. It’s not like a yippee thing, it’s not like one of those things, but bad time to do it.

“And then 18’s just a really hard hole. We had 220 pin and wind surfed on it and hit a very average chip. I hit a good putt. I actually thought it was a straight putt and broke a little left on me.

“All of a sudden, I wake up and I lost the golf tournament.”

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It also cost Dahmen just under half-a-million dollars, with Higgo earning $720,000 for his week in the Dominican Republic.

While one man suffered, another gained.

“I’d say it’s definitely a bit of a relief, but I’ve truly enjoyed the journey, it was definitely hard to take finishing 135 on the FedEx last year, but this is unbelievable, and this is why I play the game,” Higgo said.

“You know, the journey, like I’m going to go through a down again, everybody does, I’m going to have ups. I just truly enjoy the journey.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.