Chesson Hadley atones with 81-foot eagle on No. 17 one day after water-putt fiasco

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Chesson Hadley experienced the lowest low and the highest high in his first two cracks at the driveable, par-4 17th hole at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Now he gets to crow about it on Twitter. His saga at 17 began when he drove the green Thursday, which was good, only to knock his 105-foot eagle putt across the green and into the water hazard left of the green, which was not. He took a drop, chipped onto the green, and hit two more putts for an ugly double-bogey 6. He heard about it on social media. “I hit a bad putt and I misread it,� he said. “I didn’t think it was going to go in the water, but it just kept going. I guess it’s better than five-putting. I would rather putt it in the water than five-putt.� Still, it’s not every day that you miss a putt and wind up at the bottom of a pond, and fans had a good time ribbing Hadley. “Twitter is a real positive environment,� he said, tongue firmly in cheek, “so there was a lot of uplifting, nice things said to me yesterday.� He shrugged. “But I putted it in the water. I probably earned it.� Friday was a new day. Determined to atone for his goof, Hadley again drove the green, this time leaving himself 80 feet, 9 inches for eagle 2. He not only avoided the water, he holed the putt. “That was literally all I was thinking about: I am going to do everything I can to make this putt,� he said. “And it went in dead-center, perfect speed. It was awesome. It was well-deserved. Maybe. “I’m going to light ’em up here on Twitter here in about five minutes,� he added. “I’m going to say to all my Twitter friends who really built me up yesterday: ‘This one’s for you.’�

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