Haotong Li was a late, late entry into the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but after an opening round of 77 at Bay Hill he looked like he wished he never made it into the field after all.
Jake Knapp's last-minute withdrawal gave China's Li a tee time at the PGA Tour Signature Event playing alongside Matthew Fitzpatrick, but things did not go to plan.
Maybe it was down to being unprepared after getting the nod so late, but Li had a nightmare on Thursday with a triple bogey and a double bogey in his round.
Throw in having to use a putter to get out of a bunker and a reported angry altercation with a Bay Hill spectator and it was truly a round to forget.
Li was actually two under through six holes before making a bogey on the seventh and even worse on the eighth - a triple-bogey seven on the par four after finding water with his second shot and a bunker with his fourth.
He steadied the ship somewhat with just one more bogey until the 18th proved to be the final straw - when he pulled his approach shot to the final green from 169 yards out into the back bunker.
With a plugged lie, Li opted to take the strange step of using the putter to try and make his escape - noting he was on the down slope and with the water lurking on the other side of the green for anything coming out low and hot.
It's not every day you see this...Haotong Li turns to the putter to get out of the sand.📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/aJqSlup25BMarch 5, 2026
It's not something you see often, but it's not unique for Li, as he also used a putter out of the sand at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in December.
At Bay Hill, as in South Africa, the escape wasn't brilliant, with the ball just making it out of the trap and still leaving him 35 feet to the hole - which took him three to get down from for a double-bogey six to finish.
Li was visibly furious, waving his arms and muttering to himself and to his caddie as he angrily made his way off the green to finish the day in T68 out of 72 players.
And it didn't stop there, as the Guardian's Ewen Murray who is out at Bay Hill reported that Li took his anger out onto the practice range, where he shouted an expletive at fan who was teasing him about snapping a lob wedge.
All-in-all not exactly the ideal way to celebrate getting into a first Signature Event of the season at the last minute - Li will hope for better on Friday.
