Saturday
Sep172011
Wilson unpenalized after bunker ruling
Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 11:17AM
Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 17, 2011
It seemed a natural enough move. Mark Wilson didn’t even know he was leaning on his club while recreating a lie in a bunker on the 14th hole after Justin Rose played a shot.
Except that a player can’t touch the ground in a hazard, sand or otherwise, without incurring a two-stroke penalty virtually all the time.
This was one of those times where he could, because he was replacing his ball.
Whew, Wilson said in a few more words.
“I kind of got lucky in that sense,” Wilson said. “But I didn’t test the ground at all, so I feel like it makes sense. I didn’t gain anything from that. It was just a silly thing. So no penalty, which was good news for me. I wasn’t sure.”
Nor were the PGA Tour officials, including lead rules official Slugger White. They conferred for 45 minutes, talking to both Wilson and rules gurus from the USGA pouring over the fine print in Rule 13.4, before ruling Wilson’s 77 didn’t turn into a 79.
“It was an interference thing where he marked his ball for another player,” White said. “In replacing it, he touched the sand with his club. (There’s no penalty) provided nothing constitutes testing the condition of the hazard, and he did not do that, so we were very comfortable with that.
“The biggest thing was we wanted to make sure we were doing it right.”
Wilson saw the mark his club made, and so had the possibility of a penalty hanging over his head for the last four holes. He played them in 3-over, including a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 15th.
“I got fooled by the wind on the 15th, and then I couldn’t get any putts to drop,” Wilson said. “They’ve got to go tomorrow. Law of averages.”
Scores go soaring
A little wind and a little warmth, thanks to copious amounts of sunshine, brought higher scores on Saturday. The field averaged 72.768 strokes, almost three strokes higher than Friday.
Some of that can be attributed to more exacting pin placements, but the weather had plenty to do with it. That southeast wind at 15 miles-per-hour was pesky.
Whereas 75 was Friday’s highest score, Scott Piercy posted a 9-over-par 80 on Saturday, 12 strokes higher than his Friday venture. George McNeil registered a 79, Matt Kuchar and Roty Sabbitini 78s, and Blake Adams and Tommy Gainey 77s.
Around Dubsdread
Luke Donald’s 4-under 67 doesn’t mean he’s won over on Dubsdread. After the round, he said, “I’ve had a lot of 25th, 30th place finishes on this course and hopefully it’s the last time I’ll have to play it. I think there are better places, better courses that better suit me.” ... Speaking of Rees Jones fans, Phil Mickelson keeps catching it from the gallery, many of which play Cog Hill on a regular basis. He heard catcalls at the 17th green Saturday. ... Sunday’s tee times are the standard weekend twosomes, with Justin Rose and John Senden the last pair, at 12:40 p.m. Other attractive pairs: Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald (12:10 p.m.), Mark Wilson and Martin Laird (11:50 a.m.), and Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar (9:30 a.m,). Phil Mickelson is joined on the first tee by Brian Davis at 9:12 a.m., while defending champion Dustin Johnson starts with George McNeill at 7:51 a.m. Brendan Steele is all by himself at 7:25 a.m. thanks to Friday night’s withdrawal of Steve Stricker.
– Tim Cronin
Saturday, September 17, 2011
It seemed a natural enough move. Mark Wilson didn’t even know he was leaning on his club while recreating a lie in a bunker on the 14th hole after Justin Rose played a shot.
Except that a player can’t touch the ground in a hazard, sand or otherwise, without incurring a two-stroke penalty virtually all the time.
This was one of those times where he could, because he was replacing his ball.
Whew, Wilson said in a few more words.
“I kind of got lucky in that sense,” Wilson said. “But I didn’t test the ground at all, so I feel like it makes sense. I didn’t gain anything from that. It was just a silly thing. So no penalty, which was good news for me. I wasn’t sure.”
Nor were the PGA Tour officials, including lead rules official Slugger White. They conferred for 45 minutes, talking to both Wilson and rules gurus from the USGA pouring over the fine print in Rule 13.4, before ruling Wilson’s 77 didn’t turn into a 79.
“It was an interference thing where he marked his ball for another player,” White said. “In replacing it, he touched the sand with his club. (There’s no penalty) provided nothing constitutes testing the condition of the hazard, and he did not do that, so we were very comfortable with that.
“The biggest thing was we wanted to make sure we were doing it right.”
Wilson saw the mark his club made, and so had the possibility of a penalty hanging over his head for the last four holes. He played them in 3-over, including a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 15th.
“I got fooled by the wind on the 15th, and then I couldn’t get any putts to drop,” Wilson said. “They’ve got to go tomorrow. Law of averages.”
Scores go soaring
A little wind and a little warmth, thanks to copious amounts of sunshine, brought higher scores on Saturday. The field averaged 72.768 strokes, almost three strokes higher than Friday.
Some of that can be attributed to more exacting pin placements, but the weather had plenty to do with it. That southeast wind at 15 miles-per-hour was pesky.
Whereas 75 was Friday’s highest score, Scott Piercy posted a 9-over-par 80 on Saturday, 12 strokes higher than his Friday venture. George McNeil registered a 79, Matt Kuchar and Roty Sabbitini 78s, and Blake Adams and Tommy Gainey 77s.
Around Dubsdread
Luke Donald’s 4-under 67 doesn’t mean he’s won over on Dubsdread. After the round, he said, “I’ve had a lot of 25th, 30th place finishes on this course and hopefully it’s the last time I’ll have to play it. I think there are better places, better courses that better suit me.” ... Speaking of Rees Jones fans, Phil Mickelson keeps catching it from the gallery, many of which play Cog Hill on a regular basis. He heard catcalls at the 17th green Saturday. ... Sunday’s tee times are the standard weekend twosomes, with Justin Rose and John Senden the last pair, at 12:40 p.m. Other attractive pairs: Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald (12:10 p.m.), Mark Wilson and Martin Laird (11:50 a.m.), and Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar (9:30 a.m,). Phil Mickelson is joined on the first tee by Brian Davis at 9:12 a.m., while defending champion Dustin Johnson starts with George McNeill at 7:51 a.m. Brendan Steele is all by himself at 7:25 a.m. thanks to Friday night’s withdrawal of Steve Stricker.
– Tim Cronin
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