Joaquin Niemann had quite an adventurous 8th hole on Friday in his second round of the British Open.
Nicknamed "Postage Stamp," the iconic 8th hole at Prestwick Golf Club is 120 yards long and features five bunkers surrounding the green. Niemann hit three of those five sand traps.
Niemann buried his tee shot in a greenside bunker, 15 yards away from the pin. His second shot went over the green and into another bunker, and his third shot failed to get out of that trap. Niemann's fourth shot went into a third bunker and he finally landed it on the green on his fifth attempt, 21 feet away from the pin.
A three-putt from there locked in an eight for Niemann, who was one-under par on the day heading into that 8th hole.
Joaquin Niemann experienced it all on the 8th. pic.twitter.com/D4Ma3WllkF
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2024
Niemann's chances to make the cut—at six-over par—drastically decreased after that ugly 8th hole. But Niemann shook it off, parring the 9th hole and shooting a four-under 31 on the back nine to finish the day with an even-par 71.
"It was tough, after finishing No. 8, I kind of told myself that I was playing great before that," Niemann said. "I started really good, and I started hitting all my golf shots. One hole is not going to change that."
Through two rounds, Niemann is sitting at even par, good for 11th place heading into the weekend's final two rounds. He enters Saturday seven strokes behind the leader Shane Lowry of Ireland.
"You're always going to have tough holes, and you're going to try to recover out of that," Niemann said. "That's what made me proud when I finished the round. Yeah, it was great to see that happen and shooting a good round on the back nine."
A good reminder for golfers everywhere: Scoring an eight on a hole doesn't have to derail your round.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joaquin Niemann Stunningly Makes British Open Cut Despite an Ugly 8 on Par-3 Hole.
