The Masters is a time-honored tradition of the spring, and Augusta National is a golf course we all dream of playing.
While the first major championship of the season is an event we all want to attend, it's not only because of the elite field of players who tee it up each and every April but also because of the course itself. Nothing is out of place, and rumor has it they don't even have a menu at their 19th Hole. Just tell the server what you want, and you will get it.
Pretty impressive.
Do competitors at The Masters make mistakes? Of course, a prime example being Roberto De Vicenzo’s infamous scorecard error in 1968 that cost him a green jacket.
Even the legendary Tiger Woods made a colossal mistake in the second round of the 2013 event on the par-5 15th hole. Unusually, the officials at Augusta made a mistake of their own as well, with the fallout resulting in a cloud hanging over the entire tournament, claims of favoritism, and a discussion of the Rules of Golf themselves.
So, what happened?
Holding a share of the lead when he reached the 15th hole that Friday, Tiger chose to lay up on the par-5 and was left with 87 yards to the hole for his third shot.
But when he struck that third shot to the far-left hole location, his ball flew directly into the flagstick, bouncing off and eventually finishing in the pond fronting the green.
Of course, Woods could have tried to play it out of the pond, but he realistically had three options, all of which had a one-stroke penalty attached:
- Proceed to a specifically designated drop area
- Take the point the ball last the yellow line and the flag, and go as far backward as possible
- Drop a ball “as near as possible” from where he hit his wedge shot from
Weighing his options, Woods elected to replay the shot, dropped, hit his ball on the green, and made the putt for a bogey six.
What was the controversy then?
Shortly after Tiger dropped his ball, rules officials questioned whether he had dropped “as near as possible” or not. Replays showed no divot from the third shot near where he ultimately hit his fifth shot. Did he drop it “as near as possible,” or did he drop it somewhere else?
While Tiger was still playing the remaining holes of his round, rules officials became aware of the issue. Critically, they did not mention it to Woods at any point. As such, he signed his scorecard for a 1-under 71, which was accepted, and he left the area. With the 71, he would've been tied for seventh after 36 holes at 3-under, just three shots back of leader Jason Day.
During an interview with the media following his round, Tiger indicated he had dropped his ball on the 15th “two yards further back," words that would come back to haunt him.
Two yards are not “as close as possible,” meaning he had not played from the correct place. Worse, though, Masters officials were aware Woods had played from an incorrect place and had the opportunity to raise the issue but did not. And by not doing so, they had effectively given him a pass by accepting his scorecard.
A well-known and respected official who was not in attendance that week actually contacted Augusta National and alerted those who were there to the issue of Tiger’s actions.
Simply put, both Woods and The Masters had erred. Tiger played from the wrong place and was beyond the point of correction. Had the issue been raised prior to the end of his round and he still signed his scorecard, he would have been disqualified.
By not, he could not have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard as officials knew of the issue but did not raise it to him.
In the end, what happened?
The Masters had to find something fair to the other players and to Tiger. Under what were then Rules 26-1 (now 17.1) regarding the water hazard drop and 20-7 (now 14.7) for playing from the wrong place, Woods was ultimately penalized two strokes, changing his score on the 15th hole from a bogey six to a triple-bogey eight and his overall score from a 1-under 71 to a 1-over 73.
He was not disqualified because he proceeded under the flawed direction of the rules officials, all under then-Rule 33-7, which no longer exists.
With the controversy behind him, Tiger shot 70-70 on the weekend to finish in a tie for fourth, four shots out of the Angel Cabrera-Adam Scott playoff, which Scott won with Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams, on the bag.
So, what would happen if someone got into a similar situation this year?
The new rules that started in 2019 give clarity on the matter. First, Tiger would not be required to “drop as near as possible.” Now that there is a specific area to drop within one club length, the rules can be followed with more certainty, as it is hard to get a ball to a precise spot when dropping it.
It would be debatable if Woods dropped within one club length if “two yards” away. Drivers are around 45 inches, and two yards would be 72 inches, so he would be relatively close. Surely, rules officials would merely eyeball it instead of literally measuring.
If he were outside one club length, rules officials would have to decide whether it is a “serious breach.” If serious, he would be disqualified; if not, he would get the “general penalty” of two shots. As the distance would be a few feet at most, this would not be considered serious.
What about signing his scorecard? If a rules official decided if he dropped properly and, if not, whether it was a serious breach, Tiger would have been made aware of the issue, and he would get the correct score, whatever it would be. Rules officials, especially in the scoring area, do their best to help players avoid running afoul of the rules.
Conclusion.
We all make errors. Sometimes, it becomes a cluster, and that is what happened here. The optics did not look good as media, social media, players, commentators, and others spoke about the issue.
What seemed to be missed was the ambiguous verbiage of “as near as possible” and fairness to the player.
Many pointed to preferential treatment of Tiger Woods, but any player would find disqualification wholly irresponsible and unfair after signing the scorecard with withheld information. Players would otherwise almost never want to turn in their scorecards out of fear of what they do not know.
Tiger not winning allowed The Masters a sigh of relief. Adam Scott winning, and that he was the first player from Australia to win, helped everyone forget.
No players missed the cut as a result, as the “10-shot rule” was applied that year, allowing 61 players to make it to the weekend. If anything were amiss, third-round pairings would have shaken out differently.
Would anyone have noticed if Tiger had not admitted “two yards farther back” in the interview? Who knows, but his doing so stirred up the controversy.