Justin Thomas was left ‘smelling like a wet dog’ after drenching himself in a muddy water at the RBC Heritage.
The world No 8 found trouble on the 11th hole of his third round at Harbour Town Golf Links on Saturday.
His wayward tee shot missed the fairway and instead settled near the edge of the water. Rather than take a one-shot penalty, Thomas attempted to hit it from the marsh.
But the gamble backfired and the American was instead caked in mud and water. The ball, meanwhile, travelled just 15ft 5 ins.
‘Didn’t really seem worth it after all that,’ Thomas said, prompting laughs from fans watching nearby.
Thomas was forced to wipe himself down with a towel before he made a bogey five on the par-four 11th hole.
Justin Thomas drenched himself in water and mud during the third round of the RBC Heritage
‘Didn’t really seem worth it after all that,’ Thomas said afterwards, prompting laughs from fans
But despite the mishap – and a one-shot penalty earlier in his round – Thomas finished with a 69. That left him on 14-under-par heading into Sunday’s final round, one shot off leader Si Woo Kim.
‘Usually when you can see the ball like that… it’s not too difficult to get it out as long as you accelerate though,’ he said of his water shot.
‘I said to (caddie) Joe (Greiner) after the fact that I don’t know if I’ve ever hit one out of the water – I definitely wasn’t going to say that beforehand but I think I got a little too deep and went right under it.’
Thomas continued: ‘Joe said I smelt like wet dog after that so that was very nice of him.’
