Bubba Watson lost ball after cart ran over it at Players, caddie says

Bubba Watson, during Thursday’s first round of the Players Championship, hooked his tee shot on the 436-yard, par-4 7th hole at TPC Sawgrass. Watson, from the tee, raised his right arm, pointed it out to the right and shouted to himself, “Oh my gosh. Holy cow.” About 280 yards away, his ball sliced through the trees and a volunteer covered his head. 

“Is it down there?” one volunteer said. 

“Yeah” another volunteer said. 

It was down there, according to Ted Scott, Watson’s caddie. 

A golf cart, he wrote on Twitter on Thursday night, then downed it there. 

“Golf is Hard! Scott wrote on Twitter. “Hit our ball next to the path near a cart. Guy moves cart, runs over ball. Ball cannot be found.

“One hole later, someone digs it up and tells us they found it.”

Watson would triple-bogey the hole. After not finding his tee shot, he was forced to take a penalty stroke and play a second tee shot due to Rule 18.2. Then hit into a bunker, hit out and two-putted for a 7. Watson would finish with a four-over 76, and he’s expected to miss the cut by two shots. 

Had Watson’s ball been found and it was known to have been rolled over, he would have been able to move the ball back, penalty-free. According to Rule 9.6, “If it is known or virtually certain that an outside influence (including another player in stroke play or another ball) lifted or moved a player’s ball: There is no penalty, and The ball must be replaced on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated) (see Rule 14.2).”

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The lost-and-found scenario was reminiscent of Bryson DeChambeau’s tee shot on the 3rd hole at Augusta during last year’s second round of the Masters. There, too, DeChambeau could not find his ball after a wayward drive into deep rough, only to be handed the ball on the next hole by a gallery guard who had found it.

“It definitely throws you for a loop when the guy goes and gives you the ball on the 4th tee box, like, ‘Oh, I found it!’” DeChambeau said. 

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

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