Rickie Fowler headed into the 45th edition of The Players Championship as many people’s pick to finish top of the pile for the second time in four years.
However, this proved not to be the case as the 2015 champion failed to even make the weekend following a bizarre incident during his second round.
The American stepped up to the tee on the par-4 6th hole at TPC Sawgrass on -3 overall, and -5 for his round.
The 29-year-old was left livid after he cannoned his tee shot way wide of the fairway and into a swarm of palm trees.
The ball then failed to drop to the ground, and after whipping out a pair of binoculars, Fowler learnt that it had, in fact, got lodged in one of the trees, although he was unable to properly identify it.
Eager patrons attempted to offer a helping hand as they furiously shook the palm tree in a bid to retrieve the ball, however it simply wasn’t moving, meaning Fowler had to return to the tee for his third shot, before then carding a double bogey on the hole.
#TreeGate proved to be decisive as he would then agonisingly miss the cut by two shots.
Meanwhile, Webb Simpson equalled a course record 63 en route to finishing the day top of the leaderboard on -15, a whopping six points clear of a chasing pack which features Patrick Cantlay, South African Charl Schwartzel and Danny Lee.
Last week’s winner Jason Day, who won here two years ago, is still just about in contention on -8, whereas Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth just about finished the right side of the cut line on -1.
Ian Poulter is the highest-placed Brit on -5, 10 shots off the lead, while Rory McIlroy missed out completely.
