Masters leader Brooks Koepka caught up in rules violation drama after his caddie was accused of mouthing word 'five' to rival after US star hit 5-iron onto par-5, but they're CLEARED of wrongdoing
- last year
Masters leader Brooks Koepka and his caddie sparked controversy on Thursday when the latter appeared to give advice to a rival.
TV footage from Augusta National's first round, which was posted on social media, appeared to show Koepka's caddie Ricky Elliott saying 'five' to Gary Woodland's caddie on the 15th fairway.
According to law 10.2a in the rulebook, no player or caddie can give or seek advice from a competitor.
Questions over whether Koepka's caddie was cheating, with accusations appearing online, were raised but he and the American star were cleared of a potential rules violation.
If that was deemed to have been advised on which club Koepka had just hit into the par-five it would be a breach of the rules and a two-shot penalty, but the pair were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing.
'They've chosen not to do that and it looked very clearly the evidence was against them.'
Experienced caddie Craig Connelly, who works for two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, said on Twitter the incident was an 'absolute non-starter' in his mind.
'Happens every single day, multiple times a round,' Connelly wrote. 'And, if there's a caddie on here who says they've never done it.
If Kopeka was going to be punished for the incident, he would have incurred a two-shot penalty and the 65 he carded in the first round would have turned into a 67.
TV footage from Augusta National's first round, which was posted on social media, appeared to show Koepka's caddie Ricky Elliott saying 'five' to Gary Woodland's caddie on the 15th fairway.
According to law 10.2a in the rulebook, no player or caddie can give or seek advice from a competitor.
Questions over whether Koepka's caddie was cheating, with accusations appearing online, were raised but he and the American star were cleared of a potential rules violation.
If that was deemed to have been advised on which club Koepka had just hit into the par-five it would be a breach of the rules and a two-shot penalty, but the pair were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing.
'They've chosen not to do that and it looked very clearly the evidence was against them.'
Experienced caddie Craig Connelly, who works for two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, said on Twitter the incident was an 'absolute non-starter' in his mind.
'Happens every single day, multiple times a round,' Connelly wrote. 'And, if there's a caddie on here who says they've never done it.
If Kopeka was going to be punished for the incident, he would have incurred a two-shot penalty and the 65 he carded in the first round would have turned into a 67.