The following clip comes with a health warning. If you can, watch it through the gaps in your fingers.
Even then, you’ll still be stunned at the horror Paul Broadhurst has gone through at the Senior Open.
It was the unmissable shot – his ball barely a couple of inches from the hole. Only the Englishman – and former winner of this major – did miss it.
The scene of the crime was Carnoustie’s 7th hole. Watching his par putt just slide by, the visibly frustrated Englishman, who is carrying an injury, swiped at the ball to send it home.
But he merely found fresh air – missing the ball completely – before then popping it into the cup for a double bogey.
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Yes, it really did happen.
A stunned Andrew Coltart, commentating on Sky Sports Golf, said: “To me, that’s an attempt at a stroke and I think he knows it.”
He clearly did and it went down on the scorecard as a six.
But that left some on social media seeking an explanation. He didn’t touch the ball, and it didn’t move, so why was it a stroke?
Luckily, it’s laid out simply in the Rules of Golf.
Fresh air shot in golf: Why is this a stroke?
A stroke is defined as the “forward movement of the club made to strike the ball”. So if you start a downswing, you intend to hit the ball, and you don’t deliberately stop the clubhead or miss the ball, then that’s a shot. Add one on.
It’s clear from the video footage that Broadhurst was intending to tap the ball in – therefore making a stroke – and unfortunately just went clean over the top of it!
We’ve all done it.
“I had to declare a penalty on myself. I actually had a fresh air putt,” he told Sky after his round.
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“I don’t know whether my balance was not quite right, and I sort of pulled out of it but the putter went over the ball and went past it.
“So I checked with the referee and I’d made a legitimate attempt at it, but lent back and didn’t get to the ball. So I had to call that.”
But Broadhurst is nothing if not resilient. He went round Carnoustie’s famously difficult back 9 in an incredible 31 shots to shoot a three-under-par 69 that left him tied for second after the opening day.
Got a question for our expert?
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.
Do you think this is a stroke? What do you make of this fresh air shot in golf? Let me know by leaving me a comment on X.
