Johnson’s Hits Tee Marker with Practice Swing
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2019-04-13
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUGUSTA, Georgia — The Latest on the second round at the Masters.
Zach Johnson is one of the shorter hitters in golf. He took it to a new level with a shot that didn’t count but was no less embarrassing.
Johnson was going through a practice swing on the 13th tee when the tip of his driver hit the ball, which smacked into the tee marker and ricocheted to the left.
Stunned, Johnson asked what he was supposed to do.
The answer, in unison from his group, was the shot wasn’t intentional.
That’s covered under Rule 6.2b(5) on starting a hole: “If a teed ball falls off the tee or is knocked off the tee by the player before the player has made a stroke at it, it may be re-teed anywhere in the teeing area without penalty.”
That’s what he did, but not without telling Matt Kuchar, Ian Poulter, and their caddies, “Y’all can laugh. That’s embarrassing.”
Johnson was not saved by the new Rules of Golf. The incident would have had the same outcome last year.
Patton Kizzire is going to make the cut at the Masters in his second appearance.
The 33-year-old is also going into the weekend in contending for the lead.
Kizzire earned his first two PGA Tour wins last year but has never really been a factor at a major championship.
He finished with a 2-under 70 on Friday and is currently two shots behind the leader Francesco Molinari.
Molinari is at 4-under for the day and 6-under for the tournament.
Ian Poulter and Brooks Koepka, who was one of Thursday’s co-leaders, are one shot back.
Francesco Molinari has made a move up the leaderboard with three birdies on the front nine at Augusta National.
The 36-year-old Italian and last year’s British Open winner made birdies on Nos. 3, 8 and 9 on Friday to pull into a second-place tie with Phil Mickelson at 5-under.
Bryson DeChambeau still has a two-shot lead at 7-under for the tournament.
He was 1-under through eight holes in the second round.
Brooks Koepka, who was the co-leader with DeChambeau after Thursday, is 2-over for the day and now three shots back.
Bryson DeChambeau isn’t having much trouble navigating the soggy course at Augusta National early in the second round of the Masters.
Brooks Koepka, however, ran into some early trouble.
The 28-year-old DeChambeau made birdie on No. 2 and is now alone atop the leaderboard at 7-under.
Koepka, who came into Friday tied with DeChambeau in first place, made birdie on his first hole but then made double bogey on No. 2 after hitting his drive into the trees and having to take a drop.
Phil Mickelson is one shot back at 6-under after a birdie on No. 2. Koepka is in third place, two shots back.
The leaders heading into the second round at the Masters are all set to tee off in the next 30 minutes on what’s expected to be a very soft course after steady morning rain.
The rain tapered off by midmorning Friday and the sun even started to occasionally peek through the clouds at Augusta National.
Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are in the 10:42 a.m. group.
Phil Mickelson tees off at 10:53 a.m. and Brooks Koepka at 11:04 a.m.
DeChambeau and Koepka are at 6-under.
Mickelson is one shot behind and Johnson is two shots back.
Chances of Augusta National getting firm and fast for the weekend at the Masters are looking as dreary as the morning sky.
Light rain was falling in the hour before the second round was to begin, and the course figures to be even softer than it was in the opening round when Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau each opened with a 6-under 66.
They are among the early starters for the second round.
The top five players on the leaderboard — Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Ian Poulter are right behind — play in the morning.
Tiger Woods, who was four shots behind, is among the last to tee off.