Grant Forrest, left, and taking part in accomplice Scott Jamieson on Sunday on the seventeenth inexperienced at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
Golf Channel
Grant Forrest lifted his putter over his head, walked to the different facet of the gap and squatted down. He walked to his proper. He walked again to the left and squatted down once more. His taking part in accomplice had a glance. Forrest stood up and held his putter out in entrance of him. He took two steps again, then a couple of ahead.
Forrest tried. But ready for his ball to drop, he was allowed solely the actions in the first sentence.
In a somewhat bizarre scene on Sunday throughout the last spherical of the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic, Forrest missed a putt, it hung on the lip for a few minute earlier than he putted once more, and a rule was confused. It additionally delivered to thoughts a second from two years in the past, when, on the PGA Tour, Si Woo Kim additionally waited on a putt — solely he didn’t putt after that.
To start, Forrest hit his tee shot on the 184-yard, par-3 seventeenth at Laguna National Golf Resort Club about 20 toes previous the pin, missed the birdie try lower than an inch to the left, and his journey described above began. But there’s a restrict on how lengthy you may wait.
Rule 13.3a covers it. It states: “If any a part of a participant’s ball overhangs the lip of the gap: The participant is allowed an inexpensive time to succeed in the gap and 10 extra seconds to attend to see whether or not the ball will fall into the gap.
“If the ball falls into the hole in this waiting time, the player has holed out with the previous stroke. If the ball does not fall into the hole in this waiting time: The ball is treated as being at rest. If the ball then falls into the hole before it is played, the player has holed out with the previous stroke, but gets one penalty stroke added to the score for the hole.”
In quick, Forrest was allowed to get to the gap and got 10 seconds from there — in his case, he was given the putter elevate over his head, the stroll to the different facet of the gap, and the squat down. At that time, he wanted to putt — and the 50 seconds that adopted have been simply for present. Here you could be questioning, although, what would have occurred if the putt had dropped, say, after 25 seconds. Forrest would have been hit with a penalty stroke — and he’d have the similar rating if he would have simply tapped in. And that raises one other level. After the 10 seconds, you may nonetheless wait simply to attend, so long as it’s affordable.
But all of it does get confusing, and the analysts on the Golf Channel broadcast had questions.
“I think he’s going to have to give up on this one,” one announcer stated at one level. “You don’t get half a minute. Maybe you do.”
“That’s extraordinary, isn’t it?” one other announcer stated later. “Not quite sure about the rule. If you think the ball is still moving, is the onus on you to wait? Not sure what it is.”
An excellent level, however as soon as the participant has had an inexpensive time to succeed in the gap, plus 10 seconds, the ball is handled as at relaxation. Notably, this got here up with Kim two years in the past at the RBC Heritage, the place he putted from off the inexperienced, his ball additionally stopped on the lip — and it dropped after 55 seconds.
But it didn’t rely. And as you’ll count on, a rules official was referred to as in. Kim’s taking part in accomplice, Matt Kuchar, argued that he noticed the ball shifting after it reached the gap, then requested: “You can’t hit a moving ball, correct?”
“But in this situation, the rules are modified because you could argue that there comes a point in time that we’ve got to play that golf ball,” Cox stated. “And that’s why you put that time limit on it.”
“Wow,” Kuchar stated.
“That’s the way it is,” Cox stated.
“I was certain it was — well certainly I’m wrong,” Kuchar stated.
In Forrest’s situation, his ball by no means dropped. After his wait, he cleaned up for his three, smirked and walked to 18.
