Tour winner ‘shocked’ while hitting. What followed was a rules confession

Russell Henley says his ball moved “a dimple.” 

What followed, though, caused a ripple. 

There was Henley’s reaction. And a rules confession. And an effect on the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship. And two national TV mentions. But everything started with the ball, which sat in the rough about 90 feet to the left of the flag on TPC River Highlands’ 8th hole — before falling the dimple to the right after Henley took his club back for his second shot during Friday’s second round. 

“When it happened it kind of shocked me a little bit,” he said Saturday afternoon. 

Despite moving on the swing, Henley’s ball finished 4 feet from the hole, and he one-putted from there. But he knew what he’d seen: He caused the ball to move, a rules no-no. But had others seen it? Henley met with rules officials, and, according to Associated Press writer Doug Ferguson, they were OK with him not taking what would be a one-shot penalty. 

But the five-time Tour winner accepted it. He was sure he’d caused the movement. 

“I just felt it was the right thing to do,” he said.      

Notably, one of the rules of golf (Rule 9.2a) addresses the decision on whether a ball has moved, and it reads this way: “A player’s ball at rest is treated as having moved only if it is known or virtually certain that it did. If the ball might have moved but this is not known or virtually certain, it is treated as not having moved and must be played as it lies.” As to the definition of “known or virtually certain,” it reads this way: “Known or virtually certain means more than just possible or probable. It means that either: There is conclusive evidence that the event in question happened to the player’s ball, such as when the player or other witnesses saw it happen, or although there is a very small degree of doubt, all reasonably available information shows that it is at least 95 percent likely that the event in question happened. ‘All reasonably available information’ includes all information the player knows and all other information they can get with reasonable effort and without unreasonable delay.”

Did Henley have any question he caused the movement?

He said no. 

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“It was pretty windy and the ball was halfway covered from the rough, but I’m confident that it moved,” he said. “The rule is kind of set up, I think, to protect us just from being unsure. Because it’s kind of an — it’s one of those things where there’s no intent there, and I didn’t really benefit at all; the ball was in the thick rough. But that’s part of the game.”

And it could also play a role during Sunday’s final round, where Henley will start tied for second and three shots back of leader Tommy Fleetwood. Twice during CBS’ broadcast of Saturday’s third round, announcer Jim Nantz shared what had happened, with the second time coming during a short interview with Henley after his play. 

That back-and-forth ended, though, with Henley saying he knew his son, Robert, was watching it all. Notably, the elder Henley also admitted to a rules infraction at a 2019 event, resulting in an eight-shot penalty and a missed cut. 

“It was a good teaching moment,” he said of what happened Friday.