Hayden Buckley was having a truly bad day in the second round of the 3M Open. With three double bogeys over the first 15 holes at TPC Twin Cities and standing at six over for the round, the sixth-year pro knew he was headed home for the weekend.
Then came another disaster at the par-4 16th, where Buckley tried hitting his approach from inside the red hazard line near the water. Just yards from his swing, the ball ricocheted off a red stake and got rinsed. It was a 1-in-whatever bad break, and, of course, it led to another double.
“Really didn't have a shot, probably needed to chip it out, but at the time I just wanted to try to hit a shot,” Buckley explained later. “Ironically, my caddied asked me if that red stake was in the way, and I said there's no chance it's in the way, it was a good 10 feet left of my ball. I think it kind of came out low and left and hit the stake. At that point I was, like, 'all right, I think I'm ready to book a flight out of here.'”
There wasn’t going to be a rush to the airport. Adding to Buckley’s tough mood was a 20-minute wait on the next hole, the par-3 17th. “It’s never fun waiting when you’re playing awful,” he said. “I think weird things happen in this game.”
Weird, as in the stuff for which you hate, hate, hate golf, and then one shot changes everything.
Buckley teed up with an 8-iron in his hand, with 175 yards to the flag, and watched as his ball bounced once on the green and into the hole for an ace. The ultimate bounce back.
“I was taking dead aim no matter what; I always do when I'm not playing well,” Buckley said. “Everything worked out pretty good. I thought it might have been short in the water, but I think it landed just in front of the hole. I still haven't seen the video.”
At the par-5 18th, Buckley had a shot at making a second straight eagle with a 22-foot putt, but missed. He was sent packing with a five-over total, missing the cut by three shots. “I thought it would be a fun finish,” he said. “I think there's a song out there that says it's just a little too late, so I think that's a summary of the week there.”
Unfortunately for Buckley, he’s got a strange history with holes-in-one. At the 2023 Players Championship, he produced a hole-in-one at TPC Sawgrass’ famous island 17th hole in the first round—only the 11th ace ever scored there in the tournament. But Buckley then missed that cut, too.
It definitely tones down the elation. He'd surely trade the aces for a paycheck.
“I need,” Buckley admitted, “to figure out this hole-in-one and make-cut thing.”