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Ricky Honeycutt fought the urge to look ahead with everything he had, but human nature being what it is, he eventually gave in to temptation.

Who could blame him? Standing on the 13^th tee at The Honors Course on Thursday, Honeycutt was seven under par in the Southern Amateur, five under for the day and tied for the lead with Australian Michael Sim. Coming off consecutive birdies at No. 10 and 11, Honeycutt was feeling good about his game and his standing in the tournament.

“I had it going good,” Honeycutt said. “Good enough to where I started thinking ahead. Anybody on the PGA Tour will tell you that when you start doing that, you can get in trouble.”

No sooner did the thought that he could be the tournament’s second-round leader enter his brain, Honeycutt was in trouble. He bogeyed No. 13 after lipping out a par putt, then missed the green on the wrong side of the hole at No. 14 and couldn’t get up and down. Saddled with back-to-back bogeys, he arrived at the dangerous par-4 15^th hole a trifle irritated but not overly concerned. That would change in a hurry.

Honeycutt has played The Honors more than 200 times, more than enough to get over any fear of No. 15, with its pond left and a dense stand of trees to the right.

“That tee shot has never bothered me,” he said.

On Thursday, it bothered him. Honeycutt aimed down the right middle of the fairway, a spot that would have been fine had he hit the ball straight, but it didn’t.

“I’d driven the ball pretty well all day,” Honeycutt said. “I’d hit it straight or maybe with a little cut [fade].”

At 15, Honeycutt’s drive went left. Too far left. “That hook came out of nowhere,” he said.

Honeycutt was allowed to drop his ball close to the forward tees, but pulled his second shot into the water. He hit a third time and was left with 110 yards to the green. He hit his sixth shot two feet from the pin and made the putt.

“I was lucky to get a seven there,” Honeycutt said. “If I hadn’t stiffed my [approach] shot, I’d have been in trouble.”

Just like that, half a day’s work had been erased. Honeycutt was woozy, but still in the ball game. Then he showed up at the 16^th tee.

The demanding par-3, guarded by a large pond, played into the wind on Thursday, making club selection dicey. A day earlier, Honeycutt hit a 6-iron to the green. This time, he pulled out a 3.

Honeycutt pushed his tee shot into high grass right of the green. He was lucky enough to find his ball, but his luck ran out when he tried to hit it. His first swing barely moved the ball. He finally slashed it onto the green with his third shot, then two-putted for a double-bogey.

By the time Honeycutt’s free fall was over, he’d given back seven shots to par in four holes.

“I’ve said it a lot,” Honeycutt said. “One bad shot out here—on any hole—can really hurt you.”

Honeycutt stopped the bleeding with a clutch 12-foot par putt on No. 17, and also saved par from behind the green on No. 18. But the damage had been done.

“This is a round I won’t forget,” Honeycutt said. “You’ve got to take one shot at a time. This potentially could have been my best round, but I lost focus. Right now, I’m not physically tired, but I’m emotionally tired.”