Comical Moment At DP World Tour Championship As Pro Loses His Cool (And Three Clubs) Slinging Driver Into A Tree

The drama in Dubai went right down to the wire on Sunday as Nicolai Hojgaard produced some sublime golf to claim the DP World Tour Championship ahead of Ryder Cup teammates Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland.

After shooting an extraordinary round of 60 on Saturday - which included a birdie on every back-nine hole - Matt Wallace also secured a tie for second, while the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy were left lagging behind despite some respectable scoring.

But away from the mind-blowing ability and composure of the leaders, Joost Luiten finished 48th in the 50-man field and will undoubtedly be best remembered at the tournament for throwing multiple clubs into a tree during an iconic mid-round meltdown.

Luiten had arrived at the Earth Course on Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai with an outside chance of obtaining a PGA Tour card via a top-10 result in the DP World Tour's Order Of Merit. 

But at four-over for the tournament and outside the season-long top-20 with only 10 holes remaining, the Dutchman knew his chances of competing over in America next year were all but gone - especially after bogeying the eighth.

Not in the best head space and having struck a wayward drive off the ninth, the red mist descended on Luiten and the 37-year-old tossed his most powerful club towards a tree - presumably expecting it to return to earth after he had released that internal anger.

But, apparently, the driver did not take too kindly to being treated in such a way and opted to remain among the branches and leaves away from its seething owner. What followed was nothing short of comical.

In a video shared by the DP World Tour with the caption: "Taking tree trouble to the next level," Luiten could be seen carefully throwing an iron up into the tree in an attempt to dislodge his driver. Following a handful of unsuccessful attempts, a second club failed to return to ground level out of the Dutchman's hands. Meanwhile, a course volunteer had climbed the trunk of the tree and was trying to shake the TaylorMade from the smaller branches.

In a bid to avoid losing further metal from his bag, Luiten's caddie collected a large log and had a couple of goes at launching that towards the offending articles - still without luck. Luiten then went on to ask for the portable scoreboard from another volunteer - hoping the height of it would aid his quest as he waved it towards the tree. It did not.

And after Luiten himself threw the hefty log into the tree before watching that also become stuck, it all became too much for the six-time DP World Tour winner. The 37-year-old muttered a couple of curse words while heartily kicking his tour bag, which was close by on the floor. Luiten then resigned himself to the fact that he would be down three clubs for the back nine and stomped off towards the fairway again where he would - perhaps unsurprisingly - make another bogey.

Fortunately for the man who is shortly expecting his first child, volunteers and his eight-month pregnant wife Melanie-Jane managed to retrieve and return both Joost's driver and iron on the 10th hole ahead of a significant upturn in form. Luiten secured birdies on 12, 13, and 14 to move back to level par - although his day, round, tournament, and season would end on a sour note via a final-hole bogey.

“I had just made bogey at the eighth,” he reflected post round. “I was frustrated, one of those weeks [when] nothing went my way.

“Lost it and threw my driver and it got stuck up a tree. That sums up my week nicely.

“I tried to get it out by throwing some other clubs at it and [two] other clubs got stuck up the tree so I couldn’t get them out.

“I just went on and played the rest of the hole and one of the volunteers got them out, otherwise it would have been a funny round to finish with 11 clubs.”