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Long-drive star defends himself after cheating accusations surface on Twitter

Josh BerhowBy Josh Berhow
September 4, 2019

A World Long Drive star took to Twitter to defend himself after he was accused of breaking a rule during the World Long Drive Championship earlier this week.

Kyle Berkshire is the No. 1-ranked competitor and one of the favorites for Wednesday’s final in Thackerville, Okla., which he advanced to by crushing a 426-yard bomb during the Round of 16 on Tuesday. But on social media users were buzzing about more than just his drive. The Twitter handle Long Drive Sheriff posted a couple of pictures of Berkshire with a towel near his tee (the tweets have since been deleted), which theoretically could have been deemed as an alignment aid and thus a breach of the rules.

The Long Drive Sheriff also tweeted a photo of the long-drive rule book, which states that “hitters must keep towels behind the teeing area.”

Berkshire saw the tweets and responded. He said he uses the towel to keep balls from getting wet from the dew and never thought of it as an alignment aid. He said he wouldn’t use the towel again. Berkshire added that he was moving the towel because the official asked him to. (A spokesperson for the World Long Drive Association told GOLF.com that the official Berkshire mentioned is the direct line of communication to hitters on the hitting deck, and that Berkshire complied with the rules when he moved his towel farther away before he struck his first ball, as instructed by the official. That’s why he was not penalized.)

The Long Drive Sheriff was good with Berkshire’s explanation, too.

You can watch the finals of the World Long Drive Championship at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday on Golf Channel.

UPDATE: Berkshire didn’t let the incident interfere with his game — he won the World Long Drive Championship on Wednesday evening.