Tiger Woods might think twice about the next time he has to take a drop.
For the second straight tournament, Woods hit a ball out of bounds and had to take a drop that drew a lot of attention as well as criticism.
On the 14th hole of the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday in Ponte Vedra, Fla., Woods hit his tee shot into the water. He led the tournament by two strokes at the time.
Yahoo.com recited the rule used for determining where a ball entering a hazard should be dropped. It "is covered in the USGA's Rule 26, while the penalty for playing an improperly dropped ball is in Rule 20. Woods had three options: play from his original shot location (the tee box), play from behind the water hazard (which ... is just in front of the tee box), or play at the point where the ball crossed over the margin of the hazard."
He chose the latter option. According to CBSSports.com, Woods and his playing partner, Casey Wittenburg, determined the spot where Woods took the drop. A camera from a blimp overhead, however, showed evidence that the ball crossed over the hazard several yards behind his eventual drop.
Woods went on to win the tournament by two strokes.
NBC commentator Johnny Miller immediately called the drop into question. Both the PGA and Wittenburg, however, quickly rushed to Woods' defense in a statement released after the incident.
"Without definitive evidence, the point where Woods' ball last crossed the lateral water hazard is determined through best judgment by Woods and his fellow competitor. If that point later proves to be a wrong point (through television or other means), the player is not penalized by Rule 26-1 given the fact that a competitor would risk incurring a penalty every time he makes an honest judgment as to the point where his ball last crosses a water-hazard margin and that judgment subsequently proves incorrect (Decision 26-1/17)."
Wittenburg told the Los Angeles Times, "I saw it perfectly off the tee. We talked to each other. He asked me exactly where it crossed. I told him I thought it crossed on the corner of the bunker right where he took his drop, and it's all good."
During the third round of the Masters, a television viewer reported Woods for taking an illegal drop, costing Woods a two-stroke penalty and all but ending his chances of winning that event. Some golf experts, however, were calling for Woods to be disqualified.
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