There were a lot of strange rules situations in the game of golf, and viewers were able to see the unusual, dominant play in real time at the Sanderson Farm Championship on Saturday.
On the par 4 15th hole at Jackson’s country club, tournament contenders Garrick Higggo and Eric Cole hit the drive into the greenside bunker on the right. When they arrived to hit the second shot, they found the ball surrounded together in the sand. What do you do in that situation? Even players needed a wide range of direction from the official rules of the field.
According to information broadcasted on the broadcast, Higugo was the first to play the tee. His ball left the truck in the bunker before resting. Cole then slams the tee shot into the same spot, and Cole’s ball follows Higugo’s track, pushing Higugo’s ball into a more buried lie before settling next to it.
Rule officials instructed Higugo to play first, so Cole was able to mark the ball with the tee and move the club length one by one so that the tee wouldn’t interfere with Higugo’s shot.
Cole’s shot moved Higugo’s ball, so after Cole put the mark, Higugo replaced his ball as close as possible. When Higugo plays his shot, the bunker could be laked up and Cole’s ball could be exchanged, allowing him to play the second shot. Neither player was rated for penalties.
“I had the opposite (15 bunker situation) before,” Higugo said after his round. “A few years ago, on Sea Island, I was playing with Brian Gay at 18 and he was hitting it on the greenside bunker, which hit it on his pitch mark.
Garrick Higgo sinks a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 15 in Sanderson Farms
For Higgo, the verdict caused zero disruption to his game. He hit a bunker shot into five feet and drained a putt for a birdie. Cole continued to 12 feet on his own bunker shot, but then missed a birdie putt and settled on par. Higgo is currently leading the tournament with two shots heading into the final round.
