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Alex Smalley's golf ball had a roller-coaster ride at The Players Championship 2025. During the final round of the PGA Tour event held on Sunday, March 16, at TPC Sawgrass, the American golfer had an unfortunate outing. He was impressive throughout the three rounds of the tournament, but in the finale, he struggled with his game.
On the par-3 17th hole, he took his first shot, and the ball went straight into the water. The PGA Tour shared a video of the unfortunate shot of Smalley on its X (formerly Twitter) account, along with the caption saying:
"Golf is a cruel roller-coaster."
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Alex Smalley ended up making a double bogey on it. He carded a round of 76 on Sunday and slipped down 11 spots on the leaderboard to settle in T14.
A look into Alex Smalley's performance at The Players 2025
Smalley had a fantastic start to his game at The Players. He was in contention for the title after three rounds, but the final on Sunday washed away his dream.
He started the game on the tenth, on Thursday, March 13, with the opening round of the tournament. It was a good start for the American, and he made two birdies on the front nine, which came on the 11th and then on the 15th, and two on the back nine, on the fifth and the eighth, for a bogey-free round of 4-under 68.
He carried forward the momentum in the second round, which he started on Friday, March 14, on the first tee hole and again made two birdies on the front nine. On the back nine also, he played some amazing shots and made four birdies and a bogey for 5-under 67.
However, on Saturday, during the third round of the game, he faced some challenges and struggled with his game. Alex Smalley made two birdies and a bogey on the front nine in the third round, made a birdie and two bogeys on the back nine for an even-par 72, and settled in third place on the leaderboard. But on Sunday, March 16, he had a tough start on the front nine, and things only got worse on the back nine.
Although he started with a birdie on Sunday, he then made three bogeys on the third, fourth, and sixth holes. While on the back nine, he carded two birdies and two bogeys, and also a double bogey on the 17th for a 4-over 76. With a total of 5-under, Alex Smalley tied for 14th after the 72-hole game.
Notably, The Players Championship was suspended on Sunday due to the weather and will resume on Monday, March 17. All the players have completed their fourth round, but as Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun tied for the lead, a playoff will be held on Monday to determine the winner, starting at 9 a.m. ET.
