LOS ANGELES — On two separate occasions this PGA Tour season, internet rules sleuths have attempted to spoil a player’s victory by breaking out the ol’ magnifying glass. Each time, nothing came of it.
The first instance occurred at the Farmers Insurance Open, where France’s Matthieu Pavon was accused, on Golf Twitter of course, of stamping down the grass around his ball on the par-5 18th hole at Torrey Pines (Pavon pulled off a miracle shot and won with a birdie). The second came at Pebble Beach, where some questioned Wyndham Clark getting relief from a burrowing animal hole (Clark won after the event was shortened to 54 holes).
Both cases turned out to be “nothing to see here” situations. But that doesn’t stop folks from trying to catch players red-handed, like some attempted to do with Hideki Matsuyama late on his back nine on Sunday at the Genesis Invitational.
After beginning the day six back of Patrick Cantlay, Matsuyama vaulted up the leader board with eight birdies over his first 16 holes, briefly sharing the lead with Will Zalatoris before grabbing a hold of it and never letting go with another birdie at No. 17. That birdie was seemingly at risk of becoming a bogey, however, thanks to a close-up video of Matsuyama addressing his third shot in the rough on the par 5.
A number of rogue videos of the supposed incident have already been removed from social media. But they had been spreading like wildfire, as all potential rules controversies do. The CBS crew must have known this was the case, because Jim Nantz quickly brought in rules and review analyst Mark Dusbabek explained that there was no foul play from Matsuyama.
Here was the incredible exchange between Nantz and Dusbabek:
Nantz: They’re playing a game of ‘gotcha,’ they think, with Matsuyama behind the 17th a moment ago and saying ‘hey that ball moved! This isn’t right!’ Let’s bring in, with some reasoning here, Duse (Dusbabek).
Dusbabek: Yes Jim, the ball did not move. The ball just shifted a little bit, but it stayed in its same position. The ball has to move to a different position, up, down, to the side, it doesn’t matter. It just didn’t move its position.
Nantz: Go find somebody else to pick on.
News Related
-
Russian court extends detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich until end of January
-
Russian court extends detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges
-
Israel's economy recovered from previous wars with Hamas, but this one might go longer, hit harder
-
Stock market today: Asian shares mixed ahead of US consumer confidence and price data
-
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Sister Wives' star Christine Brown says her kids' happy marriages inspired her leave Kody Brown
-
NBA fans roast Clippers for losing to Nuggets without Jokic, Murray, Gordon
-
Panthers-Senators brawl ends in 10-minute penalty for all players on ice
-
CNBC Daily Open: Is record Black Friday sales spike a false dawn?
-
Freed Israeli hostage describes deteriorating conditions while being held by Hamas
-
High stakes and glitz mark the vote in Paris for the 2030 World Expo host
-
Biden’s unworkable nursing rule will harm seniors
-
Jalen Hurts: We did what we needed to do when it mattered the most
-
LeBron James takes NBA all-time minutes lead in career-worst loss
-
Vikings' Kevin O'Connell to evaluate Josh Dobbs, path forward at QB