MJ Daffue hits impossibly ridiculous shot off hospitality deck at U.S. Open

BROOKLINE -- Heading into the U.S. Open, the difficulty of the championship course at The Country Club was discussed at length in the golf world. That discussion, though, generally focused on the actual course itself.

On Friday, in the midst of his second round, MJ Daffue upped the degree of difficulty by several levels by hitting a shot off an area where you generally don't see too many shots taken.

On the behemoth par-5 14th hole, Daffue's tee shot soared left. Way left. All the way to the hospitality area. With his ball resting on a carpeted area full of fans and fenced in by railings, and with a big ol' tree staring him right in the face ... Daffue somehow saw this scenario and decided it was time to pull a wood out of the bag and let it rip.

And because these guys -- even the ones who aren't known to most golf fans, let alone casual viewers -- are rather good at golf, it worked out rather well for Daffue.

See for yourself:

That is ... impossible. In theory. Clearly, Daffue saw it differently.

Daffue actually took sole control of first place in the tournament on Friday, after he carded a 3-under 67 on Thursday. Unfortunately for him, though, he couldn't keep it up after going 3-under on the front nine in his second round. He bogeyed the short par-3 11th, and he ended up making bogey on the 14th, despite the miracle shot. (The greenside rough claimed Daffue as its latest victim on that one.)

Whether or not he remains in the mix at the top of the leaderboard through the weekend remains a fair question. But that shot off the deck -- the literal deck -- is almost certain to stand as the most memorable shot of the tournament.