What was that about playing it as it lies? Just when we thought we’d seen it all, a LPGA Tour player was left in hysterics and forced to call over a rules official after her tee shot landed in the most improbable place we think we’ve ever seen.
Teeing up during round four at the TOTO Japan Classic, Saiki Fujita pulled her tee shot so far left on the the par-3 12th it crashed into a group of spectators to the gasps of everyone watching on.
So what was the damage as the Japanese star approached her second shot? Well, we’ll let you see for yourselves where Fujita’s ball ended up…
“It can’t be in his bag…”
“It is in his bag! You’re joking.”
“I’ve never seen that before.”
“You can’t play it from there.”
Yep, the commentary team were all of us as Fujita arrived to find her ball had somehow ended up inside a fan’s backpack!
After much deliberation – and some question marks as to why the fan had a separate ball in his hand (who knows!) – Fujita was given an appropriate drop directly below where the spectator was standing. Per Rule 15.2 – expertly explained by our very own rules guru here – if an object is obstructing your golf ball anywhere on the golf course except for the green, you can lift it, remove it, and then drop the original ball – or a replacement if you wish.
So that’s exactly what the LPGA Tour player did, eventually going on to make bogey following the fan encounter which still has us scratching our heads.
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Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
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