Ben Kohles was trying his best to see the positive side, but he still couldn’t hide the pain.
“Of course it hurts, right?” Kohles said. “You feel like you had it right there and you let it get away.”
Kohles had just birdied consecutive holes Sunday in the CJ Byron Nelson Cup when he stepped onto the tee on TPC Craig Ranch’s par-5 18th hole with a one-stroke lead over Taylor Pendrith. Two shots later, Kohles found himself with a difficult lie in the rough, between two bunkers and close to the green.
Kohles caught his first chip hard and his ball didn’t come close to reaching the green, instead burying itself in a worse lie just outside the bunker closest to the hole.
“I was kind of sitting around, but I honestly hadn’t seen anything as tough as that all week,” Kohles said. “Yeah, I just didn’t make a great shot. He just needed a little more enthusiasm. Maybe I slowed down a little. … Honestly, after that first chip, I was in a pretty screwed situation.”
Winning is difficult.
Ben Kohles bogeyed the 72nd hole and missed a potential playoff by one stroke. He was the only player to make bogey on the 18th today. pic.twitter.com/JYx69sMP0U
– PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
From there, Kohles couldn’t get up or down, missing a 5-footer for par that would have forced a playoff with Pendrith, who birdied the hole. Kohles’ final bogey was the only finish worse than par at 18th in the entire round (66 players).
“(The par putt) probably lacked a little bit of speed, and I probably needed to start from the center instead of playing it straight,” Kohles said. “…I feel like I made a good putt, so I’m not going to dwell on that and just take all the positives and see what we can do next week.”
