Phil Mickelson gets bizarre ruling after fan grabs his ball during final round - Golf.com

By: Sean Zak May 23, 2021

Phil Mickelson's day was just bizarre from start to finish.

CBS

As if the final round at the PGA Championship couldn’t get any weirder, a spectator picked up Phil Mickelson’s ball while it was in play.

You read that correctly. 

As the 50-year-old took a four-shot lead with eight holes to play, he piped his drive left and into the gallery on the 11th hole. From the blimp shot looking down, a frenzied crowd gathered around the ball. And apparently, one of them picked up his ball.

Fans immediately surrounded Mickelson’s ball left of the 11th fairway.

CBS

“It was right here, then she picked it up and it rolled to right there,” another spectator told Mickelson as he approached the crowd. 

The difference between those two spots, mind you, was just a couple inches. Maybe half a foot. But a weird instance, nonetheless. 

Phil Mickelson watches as a spectator tells him what happened.

CBS

“I’m under the the understanding that somebody picked it up and put it back in the general vicinity,” Mickelson explained to the Rules official. He even told Brooks Koepka to go ahead and play ahead if he wanted to. 

So, Rules officials at home, what’s the plan of action? Free relief? Play it as it lies? The ruling is rare, but it’s really straightforward. Mickelson has to rely on the spectators who told him about the weird fan interaction and where they believed it to originally be. Then, all he has to do is replace it in that area and he’s good to play without a penalty. 

“I don’t get that club length and a drop,” Mickelson joked to the official. That’s quite chummy for the final nine holes at a major championship. 

While Koepka watched on from the fairway, Phil thinned his second, bounding down the fairway. “That didn’t get four feet off the ground,” Dottie Pepper said. It didn’t have to. Mickelson made par to maintain his same advantage.  

Latest In Instruction

Sean Zak

Golf.com Editor

A senior editor for GOLF.com, Zak joined the GOLF staff three weeks after college graduation. He is the utility infielder of the brand, spanning digital, print and video. His main duty is as a host for various GOLF.com video properties and its award-winning podcasts. When the Masters comes around, be sure to tune in to hear him and fellow staffers recount the most memorable tournaments in Augusta National history on A Pod Unlike Any Other.

Adblock test (Why?)

"ball" - Google News
May 24, 2021 at 04:52AM
https://ift.tt/3fJx5Ns

Phil Mickelson gets bizarre ruling after fan grabs his ball during final round - Golf.com
"ball" - Google News
https://ift.tt/39CKzGV
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update