William Mouw faced the wrath of the 16th-hole bunker in the 2nd round of the 2025 American Express. Playing at the PGA West Pete Dye Stadium Course, Mouw had managed 6-under par before he teed off at the dangerous hole. What seemed like just another day on the course turned into a nightmare within a matter of minutes. He went from -6 to +2 by taking 13 strokes on the par 5 hole.

However, he is not the first golfer to fall prey to the morale-damaging cursed hole. In fact, some of the best players in the history of golf have also faltered when facing the challenge of the 18-foot bunker. Let’s take a look at the top 5 names who had trouble getting out of the 16th-hole bunker.

Kevin Streelman

Kevin Streelman has faced his fair share of challenges in his 24-year career as a pro golfer. He has been to every course he could and played against the toughest golfers in the world. But nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to face in 2018. Back then, the American Express was known as the CareerBuilder Challenge. While Jon Rahm was leading the way at the top of the leaderboard, Kevil Streelman got stuck in the infamous 18-foot bunker. He failed to scoop the ball out of the steep hill before overshooting it to the other side of the bunker. With that shot, he guaranteed that he would not be able to make par.

Bob Murphy

Bob Murphy experienced something similar to Kevin Streetman at the 1995 edition of the event. Murphy hit a drive off the fairway that didn’t go as planned. He was aiming towards the left of the green so that he was in line to score below par. Unfortunately, the ball drifted towards the left as it rolled off to the bunker after landing. Murphy was visually frustrated as he was seen cursing himself while also punching his palm. He knew that his chances of winning the 1995 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic were as good as over. That was the case as he couldn’t manage to get out of the bunker quickly enough to secure a point or match the par.

Arnold Palmer

Unlike Streelman and Murphy, the legend, Arnold Palmer didn’t just have a couple of attempts from the bunker. In the 1996 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Palmer nearly played 4 shots from the same area in an attempt to get out of the 18th-feet bunker. In the end, the King just overshot it to the safer side before frustratingly climbing out of the 18 feet. As the video suggests, he found it just as challenging to climb the 18-foot wall as he did scooping the ball above it.

Martin Laird

The American Express was known as the Desert Classic in 2019. During the event, Martin Laird also got stuck in the cursed 16th-hole bunker. Laird couldn’t escape the 18-foot obstacle of the bunker despite repeated attempts to scoop over it. It took him a total of 4 strokes to go from the bunker to sinking the ball on that hole. While it may not seem as bad at first glance, the mess-up led to Laird getting knocked out of the tournament. He was in line to score above the cutline. But the time and strokes wasted on the 16th ensured that he fell short by 2 strokes. Hence, Martin Laird lost the opportunity to play in the 4th round of the event.

Top O’Neil

Top O’Neil’s 18-foot bunker blunder is probably the most hilarious incident of the bunch. After his ball landed in the bunker, he only tried to escape it with a stroke once. That made it clear to him that he wouldn’t be able to get out with a stroke. O’Neil instinctively grabbed the ball that was rolling down the bunker and tried to throw it back up. While this did give him a penalty, but it saved him from the stress of trying to scoop the ball above the 18-foot barrier. Interestingly, had Will Mouw decided to take this step, he would have scored much lower than 13 strokes on the hole.

These were some of the biggest players to get stuck in the steep bunker. Fortunately, they didn’t have as bad of a time under it as William Mouw did at the 2025 American Express. Do you remember watching these bunker blunders in the past? If you did watch them then please tell us which one was your favorite out of the 6. Share your views in the comments section.