Golf is a gentleman’s game. And to keep it that way, the officials have created a set of rules that the players have to follow while playing professional golf. Notably, such rules have often become a villain in one’s game. However, did you know it once even affected the relationship between the American golfer Nelly Korda and her opponents? 

During the 2021 Solheim Cup, Team USA’s Korda and Ally Ewing were competing against Team Europe’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Madelene Sagstrom in the foursome match. The match was progressing at the Inverness Club, Ohio, without any issues; however, it only took a hole to turn everything around quickly. 

Korda took her chance to score a 20-foot eagle on the par-5 13th. However, the ball ended up on the edge of the hole. In this situation, she would normally get 10 seconds to see whether the ball would go in or not. However, her opponent, Sagstrom, didn’t wait for it before picking the ball up. 

As the viewers can see in the Twitter video, after Sagstrom picked up the ball, the match referee, Missy Jones pointed out the rules to her. Jones even let her know that the shot would consider a success, in this case, an eagle, due to the error on her part. 

Nelly Korda and Madelene Sagstrom reacted to the ruling official’s decision 

According to the rule, if a player stops or picks up another golfer’s ball before the allotted time if it is hanging on the hole, the ball will be treated as holed with the previous stroke. 

Despite Team Europe asking for a review, the point went to Team USA as per the ruling. Although she respects the sport’s rules, Sagstrom expressed that she felt wronged in that circumstance. 

Read more: Comparing the All-Time LPGA Winnings of Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson: Who Has Earned More?

“Obviously, I wasn’t following the rules about leaving the ball for 10 seconds,” she admitted the error on her part. However, she still stressed that the ball didn’t have a chance to go in. “She (Korda) obviously knew that it was not going to go in,” she added. “But the rules are rules, so that’s what she wants to follow”

“You don’t want to win a hole like that,” Nelly Korda told the press after the chaos-filled match. According to her, Team America didn’t intervene in the process, but the match referee let them know about it. “We didn’t even have a say honestly,” she added. 

Team America won that foursome match against Team Europe. However, the European women hoisted the cup in the end with a 15.0 against America’s 13.0. 

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Do you think Korda’s ball would have gone in if her opponent didn’t pick it up before 10 seconds time limit? Let us know.