This mistake cost Tiger Woods the 2009 PGA. Why U.S. Amateur players are struggling with it again at Hazeltine

Chaska MINN. — Tiger Woods’ loss to Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship was stunning in that it was the first time Woods had lost a major championship after being the 54-hole leader. What was also stunning was the way he lost it—by missing one crucial 10-foot putt after the next at Hazeltine National.

If you rewatch the final round of the PGA, you’ll notice Woods missed putts inside 10 feet on Nos. 1, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18. What do they all have in common? Each time, Woods missed on the high side of the hole. After nearly all of them, Woods was seen gesturing that he was shocked the putts weren’t breaking more.

Interestingly enough, players at this week’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National are also noticing many of their putts are missing on the high side and not breaking as much as they anticipate.

I feel like a lot of people are overreading a lot of putts,” said Garrett Engle, a senior at Chattanooga whose never-before-seen grip helped propel him to a marathon victory in the Round of 64 on Wednesday. The World’s No. 1-ranked amateur, Luke Clanton, who also won his opening-round match, agrees the greens aren’t breaking as much as players think.

Tim Hanline, who has been a member at Hazeltine for about four years and is volunteering this week, says it’s not just golfers new to the course who get confused. Hanline noted that members often struggle because they play for too much break. He notes that Hazeltine’s caddies regularly advise half as much break as Hanline originally sees.