Lee Hodges received an inevitable penalty stroke on Saturday at the PGA Championship after he left his ball overhanging the hole for more than 10 seconds before it dropped.
The American's putt on the 17th at Oak Hill stayed out right, hung on the edge of the hole and then dropped in some 30 seconds later. He may have thought he had holed the putt for a par, but after leaving it alone for more than 10 seconds he had broken the rules.
Watch the putt:
Patienceeeeee...... #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/1fNew4xusLMay 20, 2023
"Lee Hodges, from Athens, AL, received a one-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 13.3a during the third round of the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY," the PGA Championship confirmed in a statement.
"During play of the 17th hole, Hodges played his first putt to the edge of the hole and after having walked up to the hole, behind his ball, he then waited more than ten seconds.
"The ball then fell into the hole, after the ten second limit provided for in the Rule. As a result, Hodges received a one-stroke penalty, under Rule 13.3a, and the ball was holed."
According to Rule 13.3.a, when a golf ball is overhanging the hole:
- "The player is allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and ten more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole.
- If the ball falls into the hole in this waiting time, the player has holed out with the previous stroke.
- If the ball does not fall into the hole in this waiting time:
- The ball is treated as being at rest.
- If the ball then falls into the hole before it is played, the player has holed out with the previous stroke, but gets one penalty stroke added to the score for the hole."
It means that Hodges' par was turned into a bogey, and he eventually bogeyed the 18th too to finish with a 75 for a 10-over-par total after 54 holes.
He is not the first PGA Tour pro to fall foul of Rule 13.3.a, as Si Woo Kim was docked a shot for the exact same reason at the 2021 RBC Heritage. Seong-Hyeon Kim also received a penalty for the same reason at the 2021 CJ Cup.
Nelly Korda and Madelene Sagstrom were infamously embroiled in controversy around Rule 13.3.a at the 2021 Solheim Cup. Korda's ball was overhanging the hole and Sagstrom picked it up and threw it back to her less than 10 seconds after it had come to rest.
It meant that she had broken the rule and Korda was given the hole.
Lee Hodges, from Alabama, currently ranks 143rd in the world. He has one victory on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and has a best finish on the PGA Tour this year of T6th at the Valero Texas Open.
