Joel Dahmen is not having a good week, or indeed a good year. Let's tackle the former first. On Thursday, the 36-year-old US golfer had a decent start at the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, making pars on the first two holes of the round. On the fourth tee, however, the PGA star realized he had 15 clubs in his bag, one more than permitted. Dahmen, who self-reported the error, was penalized four shots—rules lay out a two-stroke penalty per hole played with the extra club, up to a maximum of four strokes per round—turning his two pars into double bogeys.
He finished five strokes over par, per NBC Sports, putting him in second-last place out of 132 golfers, with eight still to complete their rounds due to suspended play. "It sucks. It sucks at the spot I'm in as well," Dahmen said later, referring to his No. 124 position in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, a good indication of what the year has been like for him. At the end of the fall circuit, only the top 125 are guaranteed tour status for 2025, per CNN. Dahmen, who was catapulted to fame on Netflix's Full Swing along with his childhood friend and caddie Geno Bonnalie, said he had no idea how the extra 4-iron ended up in the bag. It was "bizarro," he said, per Golf Digest.
"It was one of those moments where you want to lose it," he went on. "You want to be mad at yourself, you want to get mad at Geno, you want to get mad at the world." But he gave his caddy grace, noting neither man noticed the extra club during practice rounds. Even forgetting the penalties, Dahmen shot one over par, "which is not very good out here today," he said, per Golf Digest. "It's tough to refocus." Dahmen, who tied for seventh place in the 2023 tournament, will need to play at his best Friday to be among the top 65 who will advance to Saturday play. With just four fall events remaining beyond the weekend, he'll "need to turn his fortunes around if he is to secure his card for 2025," CNN adds. (More golf stories.)
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