One of the most common rules debates in golf is whether someone should get relief from a divot in the fairway. The hardcore/old school types believe you should play your ball as it lies, while those in favour of a more lenient ruling argue that you shouldn’t be penalised for hitting a good tee shot. But neither have in mind what happened to Paul Goydos on Sunday.
You see, this debate is all about hitting out of a divot, technically a divot hole. Not from hitting off an actual divot, which is what happened to the two-time PGA Tour winner during the final round of the PGA Tour Champions Chubb Classic.
Goydos split the fairway with his drive on the par-4 11th hole at Tiburon Golf Club’s Black Course, but when he got to his ball, he saw a sight he’s never seen in his over three decades of being a pro. His ball had come to rest on an actual chunk of grass. Check it out:
Yikes. As you can read from Goydos’ caption, he hasn’t “found one person that has ever seen this.” Well, add us to the list, Paul. That is quite something. To be clear, we’ve seen much worse lies on a golf course, but not in the freaking fairway. And it’s downright criminal he had to hit it from there.
But to the 57-year-old’s credit, he handled the situation like the vet he is and managed to make par on his way to a T-18 finish. And on Wednesday, the PGA Tour Champions re-posted his photo and added a video of Goydos calmly describing the bizarre situation:
Good for you, Paul. Now let’s get that rule changed.
