It’s often said that golf is a game that can make men crazy. Whether that craziness is a momentary loss of composure or enough to make one give up the game depends on the individual, but we definitely saw one of the latter on Friday at the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Coming off of an opening-round 3-over par 75, Belgium’s Thomas Pieters was headed in the wrong direction to start his second round. Bogeys on two of the first three holes left Pieters hot under the collar and that heat exploded on the par-5 fourth hole.
Trying to reach the green with an iron from the right rough on the par-5, Pieters flared his approach out to the right and let out his frustrations on the club.
This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Pieters’ temper get the best of him. At the 2016 Open Championship, frustration boiled over on Royal Troon’s 11th hole and he snapped another iron and threw it into a gorse bush.
Getting back to Friday’s breakdown, the 6’5″ University of Illinois product was able to find the green with his next shot and two-putt for par. He went on to fire an even-par 72 to finish the first two rounds at 3-over par, which was three strokes off of the cutline.
At the halfway point in England, Rory McIlroy leds the BMW PGA thanks to rounds of 67-65.
