Taylor Montgomery could have walked away with a cheque of over $1million had he held his nerve down the stretch at The Players on Sunday - but a brutal finish at TPC Sawgrass saw the PGA Tour rookie blow a bumper payday.
Talented American Montgomery plummeted down the leaderboard in Sunday's final round after a catastrophic collapse in his final few holes. The 28-year-old was three-under for the day at the Sawgrass showpiece after making birdie on the 14th and had been on course to earn a huge prize at the $25m tournament.
At tied fourth, Montgomery had no chance of catching the irrepressible Scottie Scheffler, who was completely unflustered as he cruised to a dominant five-shot victory and reclaimed his world number one ranking.
But had he not produced fireworks and remained level-par for his final four holes, Montgomery would have claimed $1,325,000 for a share of third.
Instead, the rookie completely unravelled in what became a tough watch for golf fans at the Stadium Course, as he eventually signed for a four-over-par 76.
Montgomery's demise began on the challenging 15th as he failed to save par from the edge of the green and dropped a shot. A bogey on that hole was entirely forgivable, but events on the 16th and 17th could sting for quite some time.
He looked in prime position for a par on the par-5 16th, but disaster ensued as a series of missed putts left him posting double bogey.
The iconic but treacherous par-3 17th was hardly the respite Montgomery would have hoped for after such an unnerving seven. And he collapsed in painful fashion as two shots found the water.
He was ready to limit the damage with a chip from just off the green after his wide first effort, but found the lake once more with an overhit wedge shot and two putted for the most gut-wrenching of quadruple bogeys.
Montgomery did manage to par his final hole, but a three hole stretch played in 7-over-par caused him to slip down to T44 in the leaderboard, resulting in a cheque of $75,000 rather than the huge seven-figure sum he looked destined for just an hour earlier.
Meanwhile, in a complete role reversal, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton made seven birdies in an astonishing back-nine blitz on Sunday to jump up the leaderboard and taking home $2,725,000 for outright second place.
