5 instances when golfers fell in mud in golf tournaments

One of the most shocking images of the golf tournament of the hour, the 2023 PGA Championship, is Tom Kim completely covered in mud. However, this is a fairly common situation in golf, although it is no better received by the unfortunate golfers who have to face the mud.

The Korean star fell into a quagmire near the sixth hole during the first day of the 2023 PGA Championship. In a video that quickly went viral, the world saw a completely mud-covered Tom Kim wash himself in a water hazard and continue his round on the golf tournament.

But, how often does this happen? Did Tom Kim suffer from a rare stroke of bad luck?

Not at all. In fact, mud incidents in golf tournaments are quite frequent and happen all over the world. Since most courses include water hazards, when water and soil are combined with wet weather, it always results in huge amounts of mud that affects everyone equally.

No one is exempt from the effects of mud in a golf tournament, no matter if it is the PGA Tour or LIV Golf, or any other. Professionals and amateurs alike have found themselves in serious trouble because of it, with a number of hilarious scenes throughout the history of the sport.

Five golfers struggling with mud in golf tournaments

Our selection of just five examples begins with one that, at the time, caused quite a stir, because of the attitude assumed by the golfer in question to get out of the predicament.

1 - Henrik Stenson

We are talking about Sweden's Henrik Stenson, champion of the 2016 Open Championship. During the first round of the 2009 WGC-CA Championship, Stenson had to face a shot in the mud, for which he took off all his clothes, remaining literally in his underwear. The course was so affected by the mud that Stenson continued his round at that golf tournament in those conditions:

2 - Akshay Bhatia

A more recent case is that of Akshay Bhatia, who, at the 2023 Honda Classic golf tournament, also found himself in the situation of facing a stroke with the ball lying in the mud. While not as radical as Stenson, we did see Bathia take off his shirt to execute his stroke. Naturally, he was completely covered in mud after doing so:

A shirtless Akshay Bhatia at the 2023 Honda Classic (Image via Getty).

3 - Peter Malnati

Peter Malnati has faced numerous obstacles during his playing career. One of them was a ball lying in the mud at the 2015 WinCo Foods Portland Open, which he decided to hit, with a disastrous result. In the end, he shot a seven on a par-3 hole.

WinCo Foods Portland Open - Round One

4 - Lee Mattiace

Although this was not in a golf tournament, one of the must known incidents related to the role of mud in this sport is provided by Lee Mattiace. The Australian gave a video lesson on how to deal with a mud obstacle, and the result was overwhelming:

Lee Mattiace (Image via Golf Digest)

5 - Maria Faci

As we said, nobody escapes the mud in golf and that includes the girls. Mexico's Maria Faci received her dose of mud on the ninth hole of the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship in 2020:

Maria Faci at the CME Group Tour Championship - Round One (Image via Getty).