SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Charley Hoffman is mad as hell at the USGA and he’s not going to take it anymore.
After being involved in a rules infraction on Friday, Hoffman blasted golf’s governing body for “a bogus rule” and he doubled down on his Instagram post, speaking after his third round at the WM Phoenix Open.
“Not a huge fan of the USGA and how they govern us all the time,” Hoffman said. “I’m making a stance for the USGA to change this.”
Hoffman, a four-time PGA Tour winner, received a penalty on the par-5 13th hole at TPC Scottsdale during the second round after his tee shot found the water. But after dropping twice, he place the ball on a tuft of grass and when he turned around, the ball rolled back into the water and he was assessed another penalty stroke.
Hoffman was under the impression that the USGA had changed that rule, eliminating the penalty since there was no intent in causing the ball to move. In 2019, WM Phoenix Open winner Rickie Fowler suffered a similar fate at the 11th hole in the final round and overcame a triple bogey to hoist the title.
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“I have to put it down where the ball landed. I have no control over that, I turn my back and the ball goes in the water. How is that a rule that is good for the game of golf and how we play?” Hoffman said. “I mean, not one person at a country club would have took another penalty for that, why is it, in professional golf, are we doing that?”
He added: “And I think the partnership between the USGA and the PGA Tour’s gotten much better through the last handful of years, but there’s no way that that’s good for the game of golf when balls move like that and can affect the outcome of golf tournaments.
“It didn’t make any sense at that point in time why that rule hadn’t changed, especially this exact tournament when it happened to Rickie Fowler, he ended up winning the golf tournament, but it could have cost him the…
Source : yahoo
