No matter how many times you see Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and the rest of the game's elite win golf tournaments, it remains notoriously difficult.
Almost every week on the PGA Tour, more than 120 players begin on a Thursday morning of winning on Sunday afternoon. Only one ever does.
Steve Wheatcroft started the Canadian Open on Thursday at 355th in the World Rankings. A tied-2nd place finish at last year's Humana Challenge was his best performance on the PGA Tour.
Wheatcroft simply had to birdie the final hole of Sunday's final round to force a play-off, and potentially win his first title. In the green-side bunker, he had to get up-and-down to stay in the tournament. Then it went all wrong...
Golf is hard (and heartbreaking).
💔#QuickHits https://t.co/WOwMQqbc4V
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 24, 2016
The 38-year-old ended up bogeying the hole, and dropped from second to a tie for fifth, losing valuable prize-money and FedEx Cup points in the process. That bogey was Wheatcroft' second in two holes as he lost out on a play-off by two shots.
Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas won for the first time in five-and-a-half years, by a shot, from a group of three players that included US Open winner Dustin Johnson.
Wheatcroft may never have a better chance to win on the PGA Tour, but he will never forget that bunker shot. Sport can be very cruel when it wants to be.
