Masters Co-Leader Brooks Koepka Comes Clean After Severe Backlash Around His Narrow Penalty Escape at the Masters

The Masters has already weaved its magic at the Augusta National Golf Club. And when it comes to sports, nothing is certain. With all eyes on the stars on the show, it wasn’t a golfer that attracted the most attention. It was only the first day of the historical event, and a ruling caused problems for Brooks Koepka. Unexpectedly, the reason was not him but his caddie.

An awkward ruling disrupts the first day for Brooks Koepka

At Augusta National on Thursday, Brooks Koepka had a good start with a 32 on his front nine. It was all going great until a video of the mishap came to the light. The LIV defector tried to hit a 5-iron from 231 yards on the par-5 15th hole, which is also called Firethorn. The pro was still at four under. However, according to Trevor Immelman, it was 12 yards downhill. Thankfully, Koepka’s 5-iron did a great job and landed the ball just right off the flag and rolled out to 24 feet.

Koepka would advance to five under with a simple two-putt birdie. Later, he finished in a tie for the first-round lead. But before that, he carded two birdies. He was then asked a Rules question which changed everything. Augusta officials questioned his caddie Ricky Elliott and others in the group. They wanted to know if the caddie broke a rule right after Koepka’s impressive 5-iron shot at Augusta. In the viral video, we can see Elliot telling Gary Woodland’s caddie “five,” as in 5-iron.

According to Koepka’s caddie and the others, the rule was not broken, and no advice was given to anyone by Elliot. As a result, the Masters Tournament released a memo. It said, “All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined there was no breach of the Rules.” Koepka talked to the press and said, “Yeah, we looked at it when we got back in. [Gary Woodland and his caddie] had no idea what we were hitting.” He added, “I know that fact because GW asked me what we hit walking off, when we were walking down. So that’s all I can give you.”

Why would the rule be an issue?

According to rule 10-2a, a player cannot advise or tell other players about which club they used on a specific shot. And it is strictly against Rule 10-2a. And it is not confined to players only. When it comes to breaking the rule, the caddie of the golfer is considered an extension of it. The same rules applied when Elliott and Koepka gave advice to Gary Woodland. It couldn’t be proved whether the rule was broken or not. If it was proven, the pro golfer would receive a two-stroke penalty at the Masters Tournament.

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Fans bombarded the comment section with their opinions. Some were serious, and some had a hilarious touch to them. A fan was happy for no penalty and stated facts. He wrote, “I’m glad no penalty, I guess this is a rule but hate to see a player penalized for something his caddy did that had no effect on his play. Like Paul McGinley said everyone know what everyone else is hitting on par 3s whether spoken or not.” Here are a few more.

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Do you think the ruling was right? What further do you expect from the tournament? Please let us know in the comments below.