US Open 2012 Video: Watch Nick Watney Sink Elusive Double Eagle

On a Thursday rife with double bogeys and disappointing scores at the US Open, Nick Watney landed the shot of the day when he sunk this double eagle on the 17th hole.

At the time of this publication, Watney was even after nine holes (he started on the back-nine). Suffice to say, this double eagle is a huge reason why.

Oh, and if you aren't impressed, consider the historical precedence of this shot. As Jeff Shain of the Orlando Sentinel points out, double-eagles are incredibly rare at this tournament (h/t to SportsGrid):

"

Nick Watney's double eagle was the 3rd in US Open annals. T.C. Chen did it first, in 1985 at Oakland Hills. Shaun Micheel matched in 2010.

— Jeff Shain (@JeffShain) June 14, 2012"

I guess it's fair to say we've seen an unprecedented run of double eagles in the last three years.

There are a lot of ways to overcome four bogeys in the first eight holes you play. Most players would look to sneak in a birdie here, a birdie there, and hope to pull close to even at the end of the day.

But Watney, sitting at three over, instead pulled even with one remarkable shot. Yes, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Though Watney had two top-10 finishes in Majors back in 2010 (seventh at both the Masters and British Open), he's never finished higher than 60th at the US Open.

Perhaps this wonderful shot is a good omen that his fortunes at the tournament are reversing.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets really wanted to have another.