Mike Miller found himself between a rock and a hard place on Monday. Or, rather, between a tree and a hard place.
The 32-year-old tour pro was in a battle to make the cut at DP World Tour Q-School when his tee shot on the par-5 16th hole at the Infinitum Golf Lakes Course wound up in a tough spot. With a job on the line for next year, however, Miller risked his 8-iron – and wrist – to play a recovery shot.
Fortunately, he didn’t sustain any injuries, but the club? Well, it didn’t make it. But as he told Ryan French, a.k.a. Monday Q Info on Twitter, it wound up being a worthwhile swap. Miller birdied the hole and made the cut on the number in Spain. Here’s his interview in which he was still holding the broken club.
.@Michael_cMiller knew he needed a birdie to make the cut at @DPWTQSchool when his ball found the base of a tree off the tee on the par-five 16th.
He told a friend walking with him he was going for it. I'll let him tell the rest.(you are welcome for amazing camera work) pic.twitter.com/csX0ZpIpD0
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) November 11, 2024
“I’m going to just go for it and see what happens,” Miller said describing his mentality after coming off a double-bogey on 15. “I took a mighty swing and immediately it snapped in half and the ball trickled out to 150 on the right side in the first cut and I hit it to six feet and made it. And it turns out, that was good enough to get through.”
But while that was a valiant effort, to earn full status on the DP World Tour, Miller, currently in a T-65 logjam at seven-under-par, still has a lot of work to get into the top 20 and ties after six rounds. And now the New Yorker is missing one of his tools.
“So, no 8-iron for the next two days, but it was well worth it,” Miller said.
RIP 8-iron. Your sacrifice won’t be forgotten.
