AUGUSTA, Ga. — Thomas Pieters' driving was trash during the final round of the 2023 Masters, and coincidentally, that's where his driver ended up.
It wasn't the driver's fault, to be fair. He admits it was user error, but as is so often the case in golf, it was the arrow that bore the archer's wrath.
It happened on the first hole, Pieters' 10th of the day. After pull-hooking his drive left of the trees flanking the left side of the fairway — and making bogey as a result — following two drives on the previous two holes that missed right, Pieters threw his driver into a trash can just to the side of the tee box.
"It was just over there," Pieters said, pointing to the trash can nearest the first tee box. "I think somebody probably took it, but it was in there.”
That left Pieters with a 3-wood as the longest club in his bag for the next eight holes, six of which were par 4s or par 5s. He hit every fairway — raising his driving accuracy percentage from 70 to 73 percent for the tournament — and making eight consecutive pars to close out his final round 77.
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