Emma Talley was distraught after a freak accident saw her finish her opening round at the KPMG Women’s Championship with a wedge.
The LPGA Tour star closed out the last three holes at Congressional without her putter, turning instead to her 58-degree wedge.
A rules official explained on TV that Talley had ‘hit’ her putter against her foot after missing a short putt on the par-5 6th (Talley started the round on the 10th).
In the process, the club became damaged and caused Talley to turn to the wedge as she finished play.
“It was just a freak accident,” Talley explained after her round. “I hit my putter on my toe but it wasn’t even that hard. That’s why I’m so upset because I wish I would have broken it out of madness, but it wasn’t even that hard.”
The Rules of Golf say that, regardless of how damaged a club may be, it still remains conforming for the rest of the round. However, Talley’s putter had become simply unusable following the “freak accident”, with the American confirming it had snapped off to about a foot in length.
Talley seemed distraught with what had transpired, shown in tears on the 8th green as she putted her way to a par with the wedge.
“You want to shed light when you’re out here,” she said. “If [people] didn’t see what happened they would think I probably snapped it over my leg. Embarrassment. All of it.”
A seemingly genuine response to what remains an unfortunate incident. Closing out with her wedge on the greens, Talley finished the last three holes with two bogeys and a par, eventually carding a 78.
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