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The 2018 U.S. Open wrapped up on Sunday after Brooks Koepka successfully defended his championship, but the real star of the tournament was Shinnecock Hills, which managed to channel the temple from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by bringing some of the best players in the world to their knees. This included Tiger Woods, who basically summed up how the Open went for most players on his very first hole.
The course was so challenging that it inspired one player to call the tourney “clown golf” and made Phil Mickelson temporarily stopped giving a shit about the rules of the game and drew an impressive amount of ire from the kind of guys who always wear a Titleist hat in public. If you’re someone who gets excited about finishing a round under 100, there was no better way to make yourself feel better than watching the U.S. Open this year.
However, I’m not sure if anyone had it worse than Tony Finau. The golfer was in the running on Sunday and walked to the 18th tee at +3 for the tournament tied for third place with Dustin Johnson, both of whom were just a couple of shots off of the lead. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out so well for Finau, who became one of the course’s final victims after he recorded a double bogey and losing $200,000 in the process.
According to USA Today, if Finau had managed to par the hole, he would have taken home $683,832, but his series of errors resulted in him getting paid a paltry $469,460.
I’d like to send my thoughts and prayers to the golfer during this difficult time.