Ben Griffin's umbrella getting stuck in the Riviera range net might be the golf image of the year
Ben Jared
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Another umbrella has met its untimely death on the PGA Tour.
Last week, an umbrella belonging to Viktor Hovland was launched into the iconic cypress tree on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, where it got stuck. Hovland had hit his drive into the tree and was hoping to identify the golf ball. He even sent his caddie, Shay Knight, on a climbing expedition to try and locate it. The reasoning: if he could identify it was his, he could take an unplayable and drop the ball near the three, where he'd be hitting his third. But they were unable to locate the ball, meaning Hovland had to make the walk/cart ride of shame all the way back to the 18th tee to re-hit. He made a bogey six.
It was the type of situation you see maybe once a year on the PGA Tour, tops. Yet on Saturday at the Genesis Invitational, just six days later, a very similar situation played out on the second hole at Riviera with three-time tour winner Ben Griffin.
Only this time it wasn't a tree but the gigantic range net left of the second fairway that claimed another umbrella. Griffin hit a wayward drive that he believed got stuck in the net, though it was impossible to tell if the ball was his given how high up it was. So he went full Hovland, pulling out the umbrella and launching it toward the ball and getting it lodged in the netting. A fan was there to capture what might be the golf image of the year already:
Just a hilarious image. And it's made even funnier by zooming in and seeing where the ball is in relation to the umbrella:
Not even close.
Unlike Hovland, Griffin had another method of identification - he enlisted a camera woman with zooming in on the golf ball. According to the the fan on site, @jefegolfs, she was able to see that it was a Maxfli. Considering Griffin might be the only golfer on tour who plays a Maxfli, that was a bullseye.
This meant Griffin got to take a drop and did not have to go back to the tee box, though he still was given a one-stroke penalty. He wound up making a double bogey six after missing the green with his third and failing to get up and down for par.