Play by the Rules! Paladino, Balin Qualify for PGA
6
Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
H
aving not won a Major Championship since 2008,
Tiger Woods appeared to be rounding into form at
the 2013 Masters. Standing on the 15th Tee during the
second round at Augusta National, he held a share of
the lead. After laying up on the par-5, Woods hit what
appeared to be a perfect wedge shot. Too perfect, in fact,
as it deflected off the flagstick in the air and back into the
water in front of the green.
Woods was forced to proceed under Rule 26-1,
which outlines options for relief from a water hazard. He
could either 1) Proceed under stroke and distance penalty,
dropping as near as possible to the spot where the original
ball was played, 2) Drop a ball behind the water hazard,
keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed
the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole
and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to
how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped,
or 3) Use the provided Drop Zone.
Woods elected option #1, but the critical error was
not dropping the ball “as near as possible” to the previous
spot. Woods took a divot on the shot that found the water.
The procedure then is to drop immediately behind the
divot. The intention of the rule is to have the golfer play,
in essence, the exact same shot again. Woods mentioned
to reporters in a press conference after the round that
he had intentionally taken two steps backwards, so as
to have a better yardage for his next shot. Woods was
assessed a two-stroke penalty for dropping and playing
from a wrong place.
Although the issue arose after Woods signed his
card, prompting a call for disqualification, the Committee
decided to waive the penalty of disqualification under
Decision 34-31/1 if the Committee incorrectly advises a
player of a ruling. The Masters Tournament Committee
concluded that its actions taken prior to Woods’ returning
his score card created an exceptional individual case that
unfairly led to the potential for disqualification.
Woods would go on to finish in a tie for fourth place,
four strokes behind eventual champion Adam Scott.
42
Connecticut State Golf Association