Pro Golfer Throws Head Cover At Caddie's Face Then Fires Him On The Spot After Controversial Penalty

Obviously a player throwing his putter head cover at his caddie is a shitty move and he apologized for it but there’s A LOT MORE to this story. What happened was this. Web.com Tour player Rhein Gibson came to the 72nd hole in the Bahamas needing a birdie to tie the lead but hooked his second shot into a hazard. It took them a while to find the ball and once they did, caddie Brandon Davis deemed it “dead” aka unplayable, and says Gibson did too, so he picked up the ball.

A rules official declared this a penalty; Gibson incurred a 1-stroke penalty and finished 3rd instead of T2 which cost him $12,000, so he threw his putter head cover at Brandon and fired him on the spot.

Brandon then posted the following video (shirtless) defending himself, saying that the penalty was incorrect because according to the rulebook Gibson just has to “act” like he’s not going to play the ball, which Brandon says he did.

The rules official tells it a bit differently:

Golf Channel — “Contrary to what Brandon said, I did not find the ball,” Duncan said. “(Gibson) was kind of looking in the high grass or whatever, and I turned around and said to Rhein that we had found the ball. And the caddie had actually sort of gotten behind me, and Rhein’s now walking toward me, and I turn around and that’s when (Davis) picked the ball up.

“And before I can even say a word, now Rhein goes, ‘Well, I guess I can’t play it now.'”

Look, this is precisely where golf is so stupid and gets it wrong. All the “well technically this or technically that” bullshit back and forth is incredibly dumb and meaningless and avoidable. Who gives a shit about technical bullshit of how this transpired? Who cares if Rhein scoffed or cursed or winked at his ball? It shouldn’t matter. Whomever makes the final call should have simply asked him if he, in his own brain, decided the the ball was dead. If yes, no penalty. If no, he incurs a penalty. That’s it. It’s that simple. If golf truly is a gentlemen’s game relying on players’ integrity, which it claims to be, then this too should be handled with the same principle. Just ask the dude, trust he will give you an honest answer like you trust a dude playing by the rules in all other situations, and move on accordingly.

Yeah the caddie should probably be one billion million trillion percent absolutely sure before ever picking up any ball, but regardless — this is a solvable issue turned into a complex, controversial, and negative headline for golf.

Totally avoidable. Figure it out, golf.

PS — Brandon’s a Stoolie and hit me up last night; we’ll have him on the pod next week and maybe tomorrow morning with the Cousins to hash it out.

PPS — Boom roasted.