Abraham Ancer Receives A 2-Stroke Penalty For Touching The Oh So Tiniest Grains Of Sand In A Bunker

Maaan this is a tough one. I looked at this video half a dozen times before I even saw what the penalty was for. Got out my handy dandy magnifying glass and got myself as good a look as I could 

And yeah sure I suppose… if you look at the little tiny mole hill behind the ball as he addresses it and then see that it’s absent when he takes his backswing… yeah. By the letter of the law it’s a penalty.

That’s where things get real hairy and can be no fun with golf. I feel strongly that there’s no intent here by Ancer, but it’s debatable whether or not the removal of sand creates a material advantage for him. The amount of sand behind the ball and the angle he’s able to take while attacking the shot matters for a shot like this and it’s a tiny bit easier if that tiny little tuft of sand is gone.

It stinks. It fucking stinks because if the rule were to be about intent and free passes were to be given here, all kinds of doors would be opened for some of the less upstanding individuals in the game to take even more liberties than they already do. Not naming names.

Rules are rules. I wish nobody had noticed this penalty and we wouldn’t have to talk about it because it’s not a fun conversation to have when the game is on its premier stage with tons of casual fans watching, but once it’s noticed there’s really no other ruling to make.

For Ancer’s sake, I hope he balls out the next 3 days and and the golf gods make up for these 2 strokes because I just don’t think there was any intent of cheating whatsoever.