‘I had a funny situation’

What happened on the 9th, the reporter asked Corey Conners. Good question, but if you’re in a hurry, you might prefer the scribe ask the following question:

What NO become?

On Friday, after the second round on SentryPGA Tour season opener, Conners provided some information. Notably, on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, he made bogey on a 545-yard par 5, a standout in itself in his round of 7-under 66, but How he bogeyed could also be interesting, especially the sequence that unlocked the four rules incidents.

Conners said of all this: “I had a funny situation.”

Here’s how things went:

“His tee shot strayed to the right. “I just made an unintentional tee swing,” Conners said.

—His ball landed in the “long grass,” where Conners said it was embedded. He called the clerk.

“So I had the referee there,” Conners said, “I was trying to get relief from the stuck ball, but I wasn’t entitled to it because I didn’t really have any shot. And I didn’t really have a chance. If my ball wasn’t blocked, I would have taken an unplayable ball. I could argue, maybe I could swing.

Wait. Why didn’t Conners get relief here? This is written in Rule 16.3a (1)where it says: “There is no relief under Rule 16.3b: Playing the ball lying down is clearly unjustified because of something from which the player cannot take relief (e.g. a hit due to the ball being in the bush) “

(Especially, according to the rules“the committee may adopt a local rule limiting relief to a ball driven into those portions of the general area which are trimmed to fairway height or less.”

— Conners went down with one hit for an unplayable ball awarded under Rule 19.2.

— But now?

“The Shot Link tower got in my way,” Conners said, “so I fell.”

This is subject to exemption from temporary immovable obstacles. (The USGA offers an extremely detailed description of TIO in a brochure you can find Here.)

— But now?

“I was in the cart path and it was a relief,” Conners said.

It comes through Rule 16.1which defines an exemption from abnormal conditions on the golf course.

— Finally, Conners hit his third shot and got the ball within wedge distance. From there he shot 14 feet before missing the par putt and ending up with a bogey.

“It was just set up by a bad drive,” Conners said. “I made a par putt, but I couldn’t convert it.”

With that, Conners’ post-round press conference ended and he apparently went to rest.