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Sometimes – just sometimes – this beautiful game of ours can go oh-so horribly wrong. We see nightmare scorecards all the time at club level, but those at the top are not exempt from the odd meltdown. With that in mind, we’ve scoured the depths of the internet to bring you the PGA Tour record for the most shots on a single hole.
We’ve seen plenty of tens scribbled onto scorecards down the years – even Tiger Woods has had them! – and there have been a few 11s and 12s, so we’ll start at 13 and work our way up from there…
PGA Tour record for most shots on a single hole
We’ll do it in reverse order, because we like to build a bit of tension every now and then, starting with…
13
It turns out it happens to Hall of Famers, as Ben Crenshaw found at the 1994 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic when he dunked three in the water at the par-5 18th at PGA West.
John Daly makes the first of three appearances in this list after finding trouble in the rough on the 4th at TPC Deere Run during the 2011 John Deere Classic, while Charlie Wi had similar problems in the trees on Innisbrook’s 5th hole at the 2012 Transitions Championship.
Si Woo Kim joined the list ten years later at the 2021 WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational when he sent no fewer than five balls to a watery grave at TPC Southwind’s par-3 11th.
• Is this the most shots ever recorded on a single golf hole? Golfer has nightmare at amateur event
14
The opening tee shot at Prestwick is about as daunting as it gets, so it is no surprise then that one of the entrants to this list of horrors would come here. And the winner is… George Murdoch during the 1925 Open!
Ron Letellier carded the same score at the 1964 Greater New Orleans Open at Lakewood Country Club, while Ed Dougherty needed 11 putts (!) on the 17th at Cypress Point when 40 mile-an-hour winds battered the California coast during the 1990 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Next up is John Daly again. The Wild Thing was playing just round the corner at Pebble Beach in the 2000 US Open when he put at least three balls in the Pacific Ocean on that famous finishing hole before promptly withdrawing from the tournament, while a 73-year-old Billy Casper – in his last Masters appearance – did the same as he struggled to get over the water at Augusta’s par-3 16th. It remains the highest single-hole score in that tournament.
And errant tee shots and playing the wrong ball led to David Duval racking up at 14 on the 7th hole during the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush. What made it even worse is that he had initially counted 13. Not that it would have saved him from making the cut…

15
Many players have fallen victim to the devilish Postage Stamp at Royal Troon, but none more so than Herman Tissies. The German amateur’s 15, a third of which were from sand, at one of the most famous par-3 holes in golf is also the highest ever score on a single hole at golf’s oldest major.
Also coming in at 15 is Bill Collins, who came a cropper at the 17th during the 1958 Denver Open and Wellshire. It was his first year as a pro, too. Yikes!
16
Into the top-five now and first up is Ed Oliver from 1954 and another entry for Cypress Point at what was then known as the Bing Crosby Pro-Am. The golfer affectionately known as “Porky” was unable to bring home the bacon as he battled 50 mile-an-hour gusts while running up this pig of a score on the 16th.
Joining Oliver with a 16 at 16 is Gary McCord. Perhaps better known for his career as a TV analyst, but in his playing days dunked five balls in the water at Colonial during the 1986 Federal Express St Jude Classic.
And who can forget this comedy of errors from Kevin Na on the 9th hole during the 2011 Valero Texas Open?
NBC played the Kevin Na clip of him making a 16 to Taylor Swift’s “Out Of The Woods” years ago and just played it again. It’s not the full version but remains one of my favorite clips a network has ever done. 😂 pic.twitter.com/bnriYSQlng
— Carson Cunningham (@Carson_OKC) April 2, 2022
17
Standing alone and proud – for now – in fourth place is George Bayer, who needed 17 rather angry blows to finish the 17th at Seneca in the 1957 Kentucky Derby Open. Apparently his outburst led to a suspension for the four-time PGA Tour champion.
18
Into the top three now and it’s our old pal John Daly again. Remember a couple of years ago when Bryson DeChambeau cut the corner of the famous par-5 6th at Bay Hill? Well, Daly was attempting it back in 1998. Only it didn’t work, and he found the water six times before managing to strike dry land.
John Daly went FULL Tin Cup at Bay Hill’s 6th hole back in 1998. pic.twitter.com/cAkH3t9TqX
— Skratch (@Skratch) March 10, 2019
19
Three players in PGA Tour history have just missed out on getting into the 20s.
We’ll start with Ray Ainsley – not only because he was the first to scribble a 19 on his scorecard, but because it is also the highest single-hole score ever recorded in a major championship. Ainsley’s horror show came on the 16th at Cherry Hills during the 1938 US Open, where the history books say he refused to take a penalty drop after his ball landed in a creek and he spent half an hour thrashing away in the water, as well as a moment of madness where he threw his club in a fit of rage that cost him four more shots. Surprisingly, he missed the cut.
It would be rude for the 16th at Cypress Point to not make one last appearance on this list. This time it was Hans Merrell who came a cropper at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, this time in 1959, where he found trouble with sand and the ice plants at the famous par-3 before eventually declaring his ball unplayable and then missing a 20-footer for 18 – but we can’t criticise him for that bit.
And would you believe there’s room for one more entrant from the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am? This time it was in 1963, and at Pebble Beach, where Dale Douglass needed 14 attempts to find the 10th fairway before going on to scratch a 19 on his card.
23
Tommy Armour is generally considered one of the finest to have ever played the game. The Edinburgh-born American won 25 times as a professional, including three majors, and was a Masters victory away from completing the modern Grand Slam.
The Hall of Famer also coined the term “yips”, which we all still use to this day.

But one unwanted record on Armour’s Wikipedia page is from the 1927 Shawnee Open where, on the 17th hole, he needed a whopping 23 shots to get his ball from the tee to the cup.
The record number for most shots on a single golf hole included ten out of bounds and, somewhat bizarrely, it all came just days after his major breakthrough at the US Open.
Some boy.
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