Zach Johnson has been grinding through Round 2 at the 2019 Masters. After posting a 1-under 35 on the first nine, he dropped a stroke with a bogey on the par-3 12th. Then things got really interesting.
Johnson stepped onto the 13th tee box confidently with driver in hand looking to shake off his second bogey in six holes, but on a practice swing, he accidentally caught a piece of his golf ball. His drive didn't make it out of the tee box after it appeared to ricochet off the marker. Johnson then awkwardly stepped up to pick up his ball, looked around at his playing partners to see their reaction, and then took another whack at it.
Johnson had fun with the incident, giving people on the tee box permission to laugh because, as he said, "That's embarrassing."
Because the PGA allows for intention to be factored in -- and it's quite clear Johnson didn't mean to shank his drive 5 yards -- he then teed up the ball and smoked his shot down the fairway. He finished with a birdie on the par-5 13th, which moved him to 1 under on the afternoon. See below for the official ruling on exactly why Johnson was able to proceed without penalty.
Here's the rule that allowed Zach Johnson to re-tee. #TheMasters https://t.co/UZDcoAsMQo pic.twitter.com/j6lZP5dk1r
— Michael Shamburger (@mshamburger1) April 12, 2019
