After shooting a 71 Thursday at Erin Hills, Amari Avery was in a top-20 position going into the second round at the U.S. Women’s Open. But when she arrived at the course Friday afternoon for her tee time, she found herself scrambling to find clubs to play with.
That was the end result of a scary situation that took place at her rental house Thursday night, when an attempted break-in caused her and her boyfriend to quickly pack their things and leave for a hotel. As Morgan Pressel relayed on the Golf Channel broadcast Friday evening, in the haste to get out, Avery’s clubs ended up in her boyfriend’s travel bag and he flew back to Los Angeles with them Friday morning. That forced her to find another set to play with, and she was able to use Gabriela Ruffels’ clubs (and even wore her visor) after Ruffels finished her round as part of the morning wave before Avery teed off.
While there have been instances of pros having to scramble because their clubs got lost on flights to tournaments, this is one of the wildest situations I can recall hearing a player have to deal with. Shaking off the attempted break-in and having to move to a hotel in the night would’ve been a major mental hurdle alone, but then having to utilize someone else’s clubs adds an even crazier layer to the challenge she faced.
That made Avery’s second-round performance before play was stopped due to inclement weather even more incredible, as she kept plotting her way around Erin Hills at 1 under through 12 despite playing with someone else’s set of clubs. As Pressel noted, she will have her clubs back Saturday when her boyfriend’s mom flies back out with them, but if she’s able to shoot another round under par (or even simply make the cut which sits at 1 over currently) playing a different set of clubs it will be one of the most impressive rounds of golf of the year. Anyone that’s ever had to adjust to rental clubs on a golf trip knows that challenge, and to have to make that adjustment in the middle of a major championship is unbelievable.