Justin Rose felt the wrath of the rulebook at the PGA Tour curtain-raiser after he unwittingly hit playing partner Taylor Moore’s ball rather than his own, but it was not the Englishman’s fault.
The Sentry in Hawaii is currently hosting the new PGA Tour season, which has already provided an unexpected and peculiar incident involving Justin Rose, the renowned Ryder Cup hero. Despite the $20 million (£15.8m) prize at stake, Rose’s prospects took a significant hit on the first day when he accidentally struck his playing partner’s ball instead of his own.
Rose, who played a crucial role in Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup in October, was grouped with Taylor Moore and Andrew Putnam in Kapalua. As they approached the 537-yard par-four seventh hole, Rose found himself one-over-par. However, the trio had reason to be pleased with their performance thus far, as all three players successfully landed their shots on the fairway.
According to data obtained from the PGA Tour website, Rose’s shot traveled the farthest, covering a distance of 359 yards and coming to rest in the right half of the fairway. On the other hand, Moore’s shot followed a similar trajectory but fell short by 37 yards. Putnam’s 331-yard strike hit the centre of the fairway.
Rose’s approach shot seemed to be going smoothly as he safely landed the ball on the dancefloor. However, Golf Channel’s coverage revealed a surprising turn of events.
Rose was shown with his hands on his head, while Moore looked towards him. It soon became apparent that Rose had mistakenly hit Moore’s ball instead of his own. The microphones on the course captured the moment when Moore apologized, acknowledging the mix-up.
The confusion arose because Moore had changed his ball during the round without informing his playing partners. He had been playing with a ball marked “2,” the same as Rose’s ball. This incident highlighted the potential for such mistakes, considering that most tour players use a limited selection of golf ball models, such as the Titleist Pro V1 and the TaylorMade TP5. Surprisingly, occurrences like this are not more frequent, with the most recent incident being MacKenzie Hughes’ penalty at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open.
As a consequence of the infringement, Rose received a two-stroke penalty, violating Rule 6.3c. However, he handled the situation with the composure of a seasoned veteran by promptly addressing the matter with rules officials. If the infringement had gone unnoticed until the completion of the hole, Rose would have faced disqualification.
At the conclusion, he concluded the seventh hole with a double bogey six, but managed to make a par four with his own ball before the penalty was imposed. To ensure fairness, Moore’s ball was positioned adjacent to where his tee shot had landed, providing him with a nearly identical lie. He successfully completed the hole in four shots, resulting in a par without any penalty.
According to rules official Mark Dusbabek, this was an unfortunate situation. Justin Rose, on the other hand, had to incur a two-stroke penalty. The main concern was getting Taylor’s ball back into play. The lie had been altered after he played his shot, so it was necessary for Taylor to have a clean lie similar to what he would have originally had. Consequently, he was allowed to place his ball in the nearest and most similar lie.
Despite the setback, Rose remained composed and responded well, managing to recover the lost shots and finish the round with a two-under-par score of 71. As we approach day three, he is currently tied for 52nd place at six-under. Scottie Scheffler is leading the tournament with a score of 16-under par, closely followed by Tyrrell Hatton, Brendon Todd, and Sungjae Im, all just one shot behind.
Leave a Reply