After J.J. Spaun’s dramatic back-to-back finishing birdies to take the U.S. Open title over a host of other contenders, the next biggest story coming out of last Sunday was Sam Burns’ ruling (or lack thereof) for temporary water relief.
On the 15th hole on the final round, after heavy rains had suspended play for nearly two hours, Burns asked for relief from temporary water on the 15th hole and was denied by two USGA officials.
He then pulled his second shot and made double bogey, falling to three over for the tournament and from tied for the lead to trailing by two. He eventually shot 78 and finished T7.
But what caused Burns’ wild second shot on 15? Was it the excess water around the golf ball or just how he handled not getting relief? Probably a little bit of both.
On this week’s Fully Equipped, co-host Kris McCormack explained what exactly happens when you get some much water around the golf ball and how that impacts a golf shot.
“It’s a spin story,” McCormack said. “So I mean, it’s just how much [water] gets between the ball and the face, and how much spin do you lose? I mean, there is, it’s kind of a coin flip as to what’s going to happen, right?
“So you see the wedge shots that are green side where they’re trying to hit it out of a water hazard, and you have so much more loft, you have deeper grooves that deflect more material, deflect more water, you can get a little bit of face on it.
“But I mean, with a full swing iron and taking a shot like that, it’s, I mean, it’s costing you ball speed. It’s costing you spin and the solidness of strike is, I mean, it’s a gamble at best.”
For more from McCormack and me, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.
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