Tommy Nakajima would have been forgiven for never returning to Augusta National again after his first appearance at The Masters saw him post two rounds of 80 and miss the cut by 11 shots.

Nakajima was just 23 years of age when he received an invite to play in The Masters for the very first time in 1978. At that stage, he had won twice on the Japan Golf Tour.

Unfortunately, his hopes of becoming the first debutant winner of the Green Jacket since 1935 were all but dashed on Thursday, with Nakajima 12 shots adrift of first round leader John Schlee.

Of course, it was the following year that Fuzzy Zoeller did win The Masters on his first try. Zoeller remains the last player to do so.

How Tommy Nakajima made Masters history with a nightmare on the 13th hole in 1978

As for Nakajima, he reached the 13th hole on Friday at level par for the day. Making the cut was unlikely, but not out of the question for the youngster.

Unfortunately, Rae’s Creek would wash away any hope Nakajima had of getting through to the weekend.

Nakajima hooked his drive into the famous creek as he looked to leave himself with an iron into the green and a potential eagle opportunity.

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And he went back into the creek with his fourth shot. Rather than take another drop, Nakajima decided to attempt to hit the ball from the water.

Sadly, his ball landed on his foot, resulting in a two-shot penalty. And when his wedge fell into the water as he attempted to hand it back to his caddie, the Japanese golfer received another two-shot penalty.

He ended up making a 13 on the 13th hole. Nakajima remained even par for the other 17 holes of his second round.

Unsurprisingly, it was the highest score a player had ever made on a single hole at The Masters.

That year’s Open Championship also brought misery to Tommy Nakajima

Incredibly, Nakajima made a nine on the 17th hole at St Andrews later that year during the third round of The Open Championship. He found the green in two before sending his timid putt into the bunker.

He still finished inside the top-20 at The Old Course, tied with the likes of Seve Ballesteros and Tom Weiskopf. Weiskopf would join him in making a 13 at The Masters two years later, with his nightmare coming on the par-three 12th.

Had he simply made a par on the penultimate hole of his third round, Nakajima – who finished his career with 48 wins on the Japan Golf Tour, and two top-10s at The Masters – would have finished alongside those in second place, two shots back of Jack Nicklaus.