Masters rules controversy shines light on common rules-bending practice
Brooks Koepka's caddie Ricky Elliott, left, got involved in a rules controversy on Thursday.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — During an LPGA Q-School round at Pinehurst four years ago, LPGA hopeful Kendall Dye was on the tee box of a par-3 when she motioned toward her playing partner’s caddie to inquire about what club the player had hit.
Dye believed the player, Dewi Weber, had selected an 8-iron, and the caddie non-verbally confirmed it. The third member of their group, three-time LPGA winner Christina Kim, witnessed the interaction and knew that the player and caddie had violated Rule 10-2, which states, in part, that a player cannot ask anyone for advice, other than the player’s own caddie. After the round, Kim alerted a rules official of what had transpired, and both Dye and Weber were hit with two-stroke penalties for Weber’s caddie’s transgression.
Both Dye and the caddie later said that they did not know that signaling for clubbing advice was a rules infraction.
“I have just seen so many caddies and people do it,” the caddie said. “It was just a subtle gesture that I didn’t think twice about.”
In the first round of the Masters Thursday, Rule 10-2 again took center stage when on the par-5 15th hole Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, seemingly mouthed to Gary Woodland’s looper, Brennan Little, what club Koepka had hit into the green.
“Five,” Elliott appeared to say, as seen in a video clip that has been burning up golf Twitter. Koepka also seemingly extended five fingers to tip off Little.
As the smoking-gun footage made the rounds Thursday evening, golf fans and commentators were quick to indict Elliott. The violation seemed indisputable, but the Masters tournament committee ruled otherwise. A statement issued to the media at 6:19 p.m. local time from James B. Hyler, Jr., chairman of competition committees, read: “Following the completion of Brooks Koepka’s round, the Committee questioned his caddie and others in the group about a possible incident on No. 15. All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined that there was no breach of the Rules.”
After his round, Koepka said that Little and Woodland “had no idea what we were hitting. They didn’t even know because — I know that fact because GW asked me what we hit walking off [the 15th green] when we were walking down. So that’s all I can give you.”
The sequence of events left more than a few observers scratching their heads.
“It’s very obvious,” said Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley. “It’s staggering that they’ve denied [the penalty] because the evidence is there.”
John Wood, Matt Kuchar’s former longtime caddie who is now an-course reporter for NBC Sports, was also puzzled by the ruling. “I was shocked that Ricky mouthed it,” he said on No Laying Up’s podcast Thursday night. “Now, I wasn’t there. I don’t know if there was someone else he was mouthing it to, but it looked a little suspicious to me.”
Any Tour pro or caddie will tell you that sharing club-selection information is a common practice. “Happens every single day, multiple times a round,” veteran Tour caddie Craig Connelly wrote on Twitter. “And, if there’s a caddie on here who says they’ve never done it, then they’re talking s****!”
But what was so alarming about the Elliott situation was his lack of discretion. In most cases if a caddie wants to assist a fellow looper, he or she will do so with a hand gesture or by subtly tugging on the club the player hit. “In those situations where you see another caddie looking at you [for information], there’s a way you kind of do things typically,” Wood told No Laying Up. “Dip the club down, kind clean it off this way and let him take a look.”
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Koepka played beautifully in the first round, shooting a seven-under 65 that gave him a share of the lead. Given his position on the leaderboard, discussions and debate around the incident at 15 aren’t likely to dissipate quickly. Among the questions that could linger:
—Should that 65 have been a 67?
—If Koepka goes on to win by one or two strokes this week, what then?
—Did the Masters committee confront Koepka and Elliott with video footage of the incident, or just rely on the group’s recounting of it? If video evidence wasn’t presented, why not?
—If Tour caddies regularly exchange club-selection information — even non-verbally — should the practice be policed more closely?
—Or conversely, if most players and caddies are OK with exchanging clubbing intel, should Rule 10.2 be modified to allow for it?
Some of these questions might be answered in the coming hours and days; others surely will not.
At that LPGA qualifier at Pinehurst in 2019, Dye came up four strokes short of earning her card. Soon after committing the rules gaffe, she took to social media and wrote:
“I take 100% responsibility for the infraction and shame on me for not knowing this was a rule. I have played professional golf for 10 years and have seen this done thousands of times between players, caddie and media and never see one penalty called. … My character and track record should show that I had no intentions to cheat however I take full responsibility for the penalty.”
Koepka began his second round at 8:18 a.m Friday. As of this writing, he was three under on the day and 10 under for the tournament in sole possession of the lead.
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