17 PGA Tour golfers benefit when colleagues miss birdies

Hawaii's Joel Dahmen accidentally helped 17 of his colleagues escape elimination when he missed a birdie on the final hole of round 2 of the 2024 Sony Open, at the par-70 Waialae course.

In round 2, Dahmen went from hole 10 to the green of hole 9 with a score of -2 and had a chance for birdie when the ball was 1.2 meters from the target. At that time, he was right on the expected cut line, according to the principle of taking the top or T65. According to the progress of the competition, only Dahmen has not finished in the -2 group. Therefore, the 36-year-old American golfer will decide the official cut point after finishing hole 9.

If he had finished this hole on his first putt, Dahmen would have scored -3 and advanced, but would have immediately pushed 17 of his colleagues -2 down to T66, meaning the entire group would have stopped.

In finishing position, Dahmen hit the ball over the right rim of the hole, then scored par.

That result set the cut line at -2 for him and 17 colleagues to continue and secure the prize money. With a prize fund of 8.3 million USD and only divided among the cut group, the last place in this Sony Open is expected to receive at least 17,600 USD.

The group that was able to play the full tournament thanks to Dahmen included notable names such as former Masters major champion Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, who has won two cups on the PGA Tour, Eric Cole, who just won the "Outstanding Rookie" award, and Denny McCarthy and Michael Kim, both veterans.

"I deserve 17 dinners, don't I?" Dahmen joked after accidentally helping several colleagues avoid elimination. Kim responded on X , the new name for Twitter, saying: "Thanks Joel. That par score kept the cut line at -2. I owe you a beer and see you next time. I also take back the bad words I said to you earlier."

Joel Dahmen putsts on the fourth hole in the first round of the Sony Open at Waialae Golf Course in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 11, 2024. Photo: AFP

The tournament ended round 3 this morning, January 14, Hanoi time. Dahmen is currently ranked T55 with a score of -4 while the leading position belongs to Keegan Bradley and Grayson Murray both -14.

Dahmen has been playing golf professionally since 2010 and it took him seven years to reach the PGA Tour. In this arena, he has won only one cup in 180 tournaments, and his total prize money is over 11 million USD.

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