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Austin Eckroat was penalized a stroke after sinking what looked to be a birdie putt at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. A unique PGA Tour rule was the cause of that one-stroke addition, which occurred on the green of the 11th hole on Sunday.
On the par five 11th, Eckroat effectively found the green on his third shot to set up a putt for birdie. He then hit to within millimeters of the cup as the ball hung over the edge of the hole.
As if deciding whether or not to reward Eckroat, the ball finally fell before the golfer lined up his tap-in, providing fans a dramatic moment to cheer for in the final round of play.
Four shots. Par Five. That’s a birdie 99.99 times out of 100.
Unfortunately for Eckroat, this instance fell into that minority.
What was the issue? The shot took too long to fall into the cup. While the putt did eventually drop, it did so after the 10-second allowance stated in the PGA Tour rulebook.
Take a look.
Since the ball took longer than 10 seconds to drop, a stroke was added to Austin Eckroat’s score and was counted as a par. pic.twitter.com/xwhGBzIy8z
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Many immediately blasted that rule online, posting reactions to the shot on social media.
“Honestly, this is the worst rule in golf. It makes zero sense.”
“DUMBEST RULE IN GOLF!”
“This rule needs to be changed ASAP.”
“Stupid rule, it should count.”
Rules expert Mark Dusbabek provided a clear explanation for viewers on the broadcast.
“That’s over 10 seconds. You’re allowed a reasonable amount of time to get to the hole, and then an additional 10 seconds from that point. If the ball falls in during those 10 seconds, it was holed by its last stroke. In this case, it fell after the 10 seconds, so you count it as holed but you add one penalty stroke.”
Tough break for Austin Eckroat, though it likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference in terms of his overall finish. At the time of this writing, he sits in a tie for 52nd place at -3.