Rickie Fowler spent several minutes searching for his ball. He even borrowed binoculars to peer high into a palm tree as several spectators furiously shook it.
At one point, Fowler looked like a seasoned bird watcher.
A few minutes later, he was staring at a double bogey.
Fowler's errant and unlucky tee shot at the par-4 sixth was the turning point in his round Friday and his week at The Players Championship. Fowler's ball landed in the 40-foot tree and never came down, prompting a penalty stroke that sent him back to the tee box and left him clearly flustered.
With three birdies in five holes to start his back nine, the 2015 Players champion was making a move up the leaderboard and providing some rare highlights from a mega grouping that featured fan favorites Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
But Fowler's unfavorable landing spot led to the first of consecutive double bogeys, leading to a 1-under 71 on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. He missed the cut at 1-over 145.
"Kind of bad break in timing this year," said Fowler, who also landed a ball in a tree at No. 18 last year. "Kind of had got things going, was in a good spot and would have been nice to kind of finish off the round where we were, try and get one or two more coming in."
Fowler lamented his luck by saying the shot was only a few yards right of the fairway, with volunteer marshals and fans nearby. All of them, he said, saw it land in the tree.
That wasn't enough.
"Unfortunately, the part of the ball that was showing was just all the white and dimples," Fowler said. "I couldn't see any of my markings and so, yeah, couldn't identify it, so back to the tee."
Fans did all they could to get the ball to drop, with more than a dozen of them pushing the tree back and forth. It didn't work.
Fowler settled for a cart ride back to the tee.
He put his third shot in the fairway, landed his approach shot about 25 feet right of the hole and two-putted for a double bogey.
His trouble was far from over.
Fowler yanked his tee shot at the par-4 seventh into the water left. He dropped there and sailed his third shot past the flag and onto the back of the green. He burned the right edge of the cup with a bogey putt and carded another double.
Just a bit outside
Add Akbar Gbaja-Biamila to the list of athletes and celebrities who have thrown out a terrible first pitch at a Major League Baseball game.
The former NFL linebacker bounced a pitch wide of home plate and struck a photographer about 8 feet outside the batter's box prior to Thursday's game at Citizens Bank Park between the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies.
There must be a stigma for left-handed ceremonial throwers on a pitcher's mound. There was the infamous first pitch by 50 Cent -- who is also a southpaw -- for the New York Mets in 2014 that nearly hit a cameraman who was closer to the on-deck circle than home plate.
The good news is Gbaja-Biamila's pitch didn't hurt the Phillies, who swept their four-game series against the Giants with a 6-3 victory.
QUIZ
What teams did Akbar Gbaja-Biamila play for in the NFL?
ANSWER
Akbar Gbaja-Biamila played for the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins between 2003 and 2007.
Sports on 05/12/2018