It may be a new year, but one of the oldest penalties in golf reared its head during the first round of 2024 on the PGA Tour.
Justin Rose played the wrong golf ball on Thursday at the Sentry. Fortunately, he was able to right that wrong in time to continue playing.
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The costly rules blunder occurred on the seventh hole at Kapalua’s Plantation Course. Rose was hit with a two-shot penalty, but avoided being disqualified. He tweeted about the incident after.
First day back at work after the festive period was interesting @TheSentry I hit the wrong ball on the 7th!! 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/SA4T0wSZVH
— Justin ROSE (@JustinRose99) January 5, 2024
Under Rule 6.3c, in stroke play, a golfer is allowed to replay the shot with the right ball after adding two shots to his score provided they find their original ball, which Rose did. As a result, he only took four shots to complete the hole, but it became a double bogey with the two-shot penalty.
Had Rose started the next hole with the wrong ball, however, it would have been too late to correct his mistake and he would have been DQ’d from the tournament. So, yeah, always double check you’re hitting the right ball. And always mark your ball as PGA Tour winner Greg Chalmers cheekily reminded Rose after:
You should think about putting a marking on your ball that is unique to you…like a Rose e.g.#yourewelcome
— Greg Chalmers (@GregChalmersPGA) January 5, 2024
Rose still finished with a two-under-par 71 to begin his season. He is T-46 entering the second round at Kapalua. For more on this rule, read this Golf Digest rules explainer.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
