Belgian golfer Nicolas Colsaerts is playing in his second career U.S. Open, and he's surprisingly played his way into a tie for the lead through six holes of play on Saturday. Even though The Olympic Club is a course that rewards accuracy much more than power, he's gained on his spot on the leadboard partially by bombing the living snot out of the ball. His power advantage comes into play on the seventh hole. He decided not to use it, and he got heckled.
The Par-4 seventh hole is a driveable hole for even the least powerful of professional-level golfers. It's playing at just 265 yards on Saturday, and players trying to drive the green just have to carry the ball over a ridge just short of the hole to feel like they have a reasonable shot at eagle and a very good chance at birdie. Some guys are hitting 5-woods into this hole. Some guys have to use 3-woods. When it was playing longer, a few guys had to use their driver. Colsaerts can probably get the ball over that ridge from the tee with a 3-iron.
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Instead, he laid up. Seriously. The crowd was stupefied, and one man in particular felt the need to vocalize his displeasure with Colsaerts' stunning lack of ambition.
As if the one guy shouting "Nice layup!" wasn't bad enough, Colsaerts was heckled for the entire walk from the tee to his second shot. He didn't hit a terribly accurate second, he didn't get close on his birdie attempt, and he had to settle for a par. Perhaps the gallery had a point.
You can find a complete 2012 U.S. Open scoreboard at USOpen.com.
For all your news and updates in the run up to the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic, visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub. Be sure to head over to USOpen.com for even more coverage from the event.


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