Pete Dye‘s famous greenside bunker on the 16th at PGA West’s Stadium Course saw plenty of action on social media – mainly from fans marvelling at Chez Reavie’s incredible sand save and other impressive bunker shots.
However, a video posted by the PGA Tour on Friday evening of Russell Knox escaping the trap has well and truly backfired and launched a whole new backstopping controversy.
The clip shows Knox doing a good job of playing from the bunker but that wasn’t what caught the attention of many viewers.
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Kevin Na was playing alongside Knox and in Friday’s second round at the American Express and can be heard saying “Hit my ball!” when his partner has played.
This led many to question Na’s intentions and to wonder why the American hadn’t gone ahead and marked his ball before Knox played.
Whether Na didn’t knew what he was doing, didn’t know that backstopping is forbidden (although that’s hard to believe), or genuinely was trying to give Knox an advantage knowing full well he was breaking the rules is debatable but for now we’ll just have to make our own minds up as there’s been no word from the Tour.
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Does there need to be a crackdown on backstopping on tour? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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