WATCH: Nick Hardy breaks his 9 iron but shoots a spectacular shot to make a birdie at 3M Open

Nick Hardy is definitely making his mark on the 2023 3M Open being held at the TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota. One of Hardy's best shots of the season was surprisingly also a rather destructive one, which left his 9 iron bent.

Nick Hardy's first round at the 3M Open was going as well as any other, with him reaching 17 holes at 5 under par. However, his 18th par-4 hole brought him quite a lot of challenges.

Hardy's ball hit a wayward tree, and found itself in the rightward rough. The ball unfortunately landed just behind a tree, making it almost impossible to hit onto the green.

However, Hardy had just the skills and plan in mind. Making a near impossible shot come true, the golfer went full swing with his 9 iron onto the ball- and into the tree.

He hit the ball, aiming right towards the flag, and hoped that it would reach the green. The shot landed just 11 feet short of the hole; with a now broken 9 iron.

Luckily it was Hardy's final hole of the day, and he finished it with a birdie, to card a -6 for the first round, setting himself in T5.

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Nick Hardy left in shock by his own incredible shot

Needless to say, the shot by Nick Hardy was quite an impressive one, garnering praise online as well as from the audience. Speaking to the media after his round, Hardy said via Yahoo Sports:

“When I hit it I knew it was going to be pretty good because I caught it perfect and I knew it felt like it was going to hook a little bit. I almost feel like I didn’t even have to look after that because I was just worried about carrying the water. Once I hit it, I was like ‘OK, it’s going to be pretty good.'"

With Hardy currently in T5, he is two shots off the leader Lee Hodges. Hodges carded an 8 under par during his first round while Tyler Duncan, Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker sit in joint second place.

Hardy currently shares T5 with Justin Suh at the 3M Open.