PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida. Keegan Bradley screwed up, plain and simple.
Bradley had one of the best rounds of the day in Saturday’s treacherous weather and scored 71 goals, except that 71 should have been 69.
He was penalized two strokes when he marked his ball, but left the ball on the lawn, it moved and he did not replace it. One of the many ridiculous rules of golf that needs to be changed.
Facing a 70-foot eagle hit on the 16th hole, Bradley marked his ball. A gust of wind moved the ball, but not the marker. After he stopped, Bradley picked up the ball and placed it in front of his original target.
But under the provision of Rule 13.1D, Bradley had to play from the new location of the ball after the gust of wind. It cost him two free throws, but he hit three and ended up with a double scary seven.
“I guarantee most of the field thought the USGA had changed the rule to make it easier – drop the coin, that’s where your ball is,” Bradley said. “So, drop my coin, the ball has moved, a strong gust of wind has risen. I looked at the guys in my group and we all said, “Yeah, the coin fell first, it’s okay.”
Keegan Bradley Getty Images
“[I] didn’t think about it again until [the rules official] came up and spoke to me on number 2. [I’m] proud of how I handled it because it was hard news, especially since there were some serious holes in front of me.”
Bradley called the round “one of the best rounds of my life”.
“It’s as hard as golf you’re ever going to play,” he said. “This is the field you want to play without [adverse] conditions due to how tough the shots are. And playing in that wind, playing like this, it was a really special round.”
Usually on tough days like Saturday, players complain about the track settings. Last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, for example, there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the difficult preparation at Bay Hill.
On Saturday, after a brutal day of rain and wind, players praised the PGA Tour for how fair the track was.
“I’ll put it this way: all tours should consult with the PGA Tour on how to set up golf courses,” Chesson Hadley said. “They are doing an absolutely amazing job and they did it today. I think Tour did a great job of setting it up.”
Asked if it was unfair, Rory McIlroy replied: “No, it wasn’t, because it was so soft. All was good. The ball is left. Very tough conditions, but it was fair.”
Sam Ryder said: “I think that’s fair enough. They moved a couple of tees so that makes it a little more manageable.”
Cameron Young, a PGA Tour rookie from Scarborough who plays from Sleepy Hollow, will miss his first Players Championship after scoring 71-77 and betting 4 over par. The reduction is equal to the entry on the Sunday of the completion of the second round.
Some players were asked what they thought a player with a handicap of 10 would do under Saturday conditions.
“They would be lucky if they finished,” said Kevin Kisner. “On the 17th, you can be there all day.”
Ryder, who lives in the area and plays regularly on the field, said of No. 17, “They can hit first on the green, or they can use their whole bag. A player with a handicap of 10 is a good golfer, but if it was a coin toss, I would bet money on him being in the water before starting on the green.”