The final hole of the John Deere Classic was heartbreaking and costly for Ben Kohles.
Kohles just needed a par on 18 on Sunday to force a playoff with Chris Gotterup or a birdie to win outright after leading most of the day.
The 36-year-old hit a great first shot down the fairway on the 72nd hole, however his approach shot was missed badly left and bounced into the water.
Kohles dropped from the lateral hazard and relief from a sprinkler head gave him a 45-foot putt to save par.
He narrowly missed the par save, though, losing him the tournament, then missed the 2 feet, 8 inch comeback putt for second place.
Kohles was able to drop the ball on the green but missed his par putt before the situation went from bad to worse.
Kohles then missed a 2-foot-8-inch putt that would have put him into a tie for second with Max Homa, which cost him $316,800 in prize money.
“Tough way to finish, especially how I played all day,” Kohles said after the round. “Even on the back nine, letting a few holes get away, but bounced right back and made birdies right after. I mean, I’m proud of the way I played.
“I played awesome all week. You know, obviously sucks to just have that happen on the last hole, but hey, you know, learned a lot about myself.”
He had a similar situation at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in 2023 where he entered the final hole up one on Taylor Pendrith, but lost by making the only bogey of the day on the final hole.
“Honestly, I felt really good,” Kohles said. “Of course I was feeling a little extra nerves coming down the stretch, but yeah, I knew I just needed to play solid and obviously not have that happen on 18, and it would have been fine.”
Kohles, the 169th ranked player in the world. has now made 120 career starts on the PGA Tour and is yet to earn a victory.
“This was my third final group on Sunday on the PGA Tour,” Kohles said. “Honestly, this was the best I’ve felt out of the first two. I felt good in Dallas a couple of years ago, as well. Just going to keep building from that and use it to go forward.”
