She looked genuinely happy, and that’s hard to knock. The woman even showed a volunteer what she had found, and that’s a good thing, too.
But Nelly Korda needed to play that golf ball that the woman was holding in her right hand.
“Whoaaaa,” announcer Grant Boone said on the CNBC broadcast of the sequence.
“Noooo,” analyst Sophie Walker said.
“No, it’s not a souvenir,” Grant said.
“Noooo” Walker repeated.
Indeed. Though, while you’ve no doubt seen and heard of stories of fans picking up golf balls on golf courses during golf tournaments, the perpetrator here, during Sunday’s final round of the Evian Championship, looked innocent enough. When Korda hit right and into the trees with her second shot on Evian Resort Golf Club’s par-4 6th, the woman walked up to the ball, picked it up, raised it up and walked it over to the nearby volunteer.
Who had a few words for her.
“No, no. Oh, she’s in big trouble now.” Boone said on the broadcast.
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Fans, of course, should probably let golf balls on golf courses at golf tournaments lie, though players can move the ball back to its original spot, penalty free, thanks to rule 9.6. That rule states: “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).
This applies whether or not the player’s ball has been found.”
From there, Korda hit into a greenside bunker and took a double-bogey six. She moved into a tie for the lead at one point, but finished tied for eighth after a two-under 69.
“Today was a little tough, especially on the back nine, but overall pretty happy with how I played,” Korda said after her round.
