Today, the PGA Tour announced that an “inadvertent error” by a referee on Day 1 of the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac would not result in a change to Sergio Garcia’s score.
On the 10th hole Thursday, Garcia had hooked his tee shot into a red penalty area. According to rule 18.2, a ball is “lost if not found in three minutes after the player or his or her caddie begins to search for it”. Unbeknownst to the referee, the ball was actually spotted across the creek from where Garcia entered the penalty area and the countdown had already begun.
But because of the water Garcia wasn’t able to get to the ball in time, and it was ruled as lost. He argued unsuccessfully with the referee that the clock had started too soon. Ultimately, he took penalty area relief for one stroke and opted for the back-on-the-line option.
Despite acknowledgement of the referee’s mistake today by senior tournament director Steve Rintoul, Garcia’s score on the 10th hole did not change because he had already signed his scorecard and the round was completed.
Garcia finished the hole with a par 5 and completed Round 1 with a 3-under 67. Whether he would have taken the penalty area relief regardless of the error is a matter of speculation. But he has been vocal since the incident on social media about his eagerness to leave the PGA Tour.
This is not the first time Garcia has run into rule problems. In 2019 WGC-Dell match play at Austin Country Club, Garcia was 1 down to Matt Kucher through six holes. After missing a 7-foot par putt on the 7th green, Garcia gave it a quick rake before Kuchar had conceded the putt. The ball lipped out, and by rule, it counted because Kuchar had not conceded in time. After a tense exchange between the two, Kuchar went on to win the match, 2 up.
For more on the biggest, strangest, and costliest rules blunders, check out this article from GolfDigest. And if you want to learn more about what it means to be a referee in professional sports these days, listen to this fabulous episode, Ref, You Suck! on Michael Lewis’s podcast “Against the Rules.” (Yes, this is the same Michael Lewis who wrote Moneyball.)