Masters controversies: How the Rules of Golf played a part at Augusta
In this week’s Quick 9 we look at how the Rules of Golf have played a part in the history of the Masters and how, on occasion, it has decided the winner
7. Testing times for McIlroy
Much was expected of Rory McIlroy’s first visit to Augusta and first major as a pro in 2009 and it nearly ended in a penalty shot and a missed cut.
All was going well until he four-putted 16 and trebled the next to tumble down the leaderboard.
On his last hole the boy wonder left his shot in the right-hand greenside bunker and then kicked the sand. He made six and was then questioned on his actions four hours later.
“The Rules of Golf (13-4) prohibit a player from testing the condition of a hazard before playing a stroke in the hazard. The decisions interpreting the rule state that kicking the ground in the hazard constitutes testing the condition.
“However, the rules allow the player to smooth sand or soil in the hazard after making a stroke provided that, with regard to his next stroke, nothing is done to improve the position or lie of his ball.”
McIlroy was cleared and went on to tie for 20th.
8. Maggert gets in his own way
Jeff Maggert began the Sunday of the 2003 Masters with a two-shot lead. He then found a fairway bunker at the 3rd with his 2-iron lay-up. With just 106 yards remaining and his 53˚ wedge he proceeded to hit the lip from where the ball rebounded back onto his chest.
Enter Rule 19-2b and a two-shot penalty en route to a seven – he holed an 18-foot putt for the seven.
“My reflexes aren’t what they used to be. I’ve been in situations like that before with a buried lie and you’re worried about hitting your foot. I just heard the ball hit the bunker and the next thing you know it hit me in the chest. I didn’t want that incident to mark my day, so to speak. I tried to put it out of my mind and move forward.”
He later made an eight at the 12th after finding Rae’s Creek but from the sand beyond the green.
In the end he finished five behind Mike Weir.
“I’d like to play a couple of holes over again, I’ll say that,” Maggert said.
9. Thanks for coming, Gary
And it’s not just the players who have fallen foul of the authorities. During the 1966 telecast CBS’ Jack Whitaker referred to the galleries/patrons as a ‘mob scene’.
He was duly banned for the next five years.
Gary McCord then got the committee treatment in 1994 when he said the 17th green was so quick it seemed ‘bikini waxed’ and that there are ‘some body bags down there if that keeps going’ when a ball was rolling towards a water hazard.
Masters officials ‘were not comfortable with his style’ and he hasn’t been back.
What’s not to like about the changes to the Rules of Golf?
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
