Many of golf’s regulations are straightforward, and breaking these rules equates to swift punishment. J.B. Holmes found this out the hard way on at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
On Doral’s opening hole, Holmes dumped his drive into a water hazard. Seeking relief, the 33-year-old took an “opposite margin” drop, which means a player must drop within two club lengths of the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, no closer to the hole.
Instead, Holmes hit his next shot from 22 metres back:
Hopefully this is the most confusing thing we see today on PGA TOUR LIVE. https://t.co/nLKhWcrkmH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 6, 2016
When he reached the green, officials met with Holmes and deemed the drop a “serious breach” of the rules. Holmes had to return to where he should have originally played his shot and was penalised two strokes, posting a double-bogey 7 on the hole.
Although Holmes finished his round with an 80, it could have been worse: Had he teed off on the next hole without the new drop, he would have been disqualified, and lost out on $68,350 earnings from the tournament.
