Strange Finish At The Colonial

[BarryRX]

Zach Johnson comes to the 18th (a par 4) leading by 3 strokes. He's on in 2 and marks his ball, but then he moves his mark to get out of Jason Duffner's line. When he goes to putt, he doesn't move his mark back to the original spot and gets a 2 shot penalty. He still won by a stroke.

[tomdgolfer]

Zach Johnson comes to the 18th (a par 4) leading by 3 strokes. He's on in 2 and marks his ball, but then he moves his mark to get out of Jason Duffner's line. When he goes to putt, he doesn't move his mark back to the original spot and gets a 2 shot penalty. He still won by a stroke.

I stopped watching after all the huggs from the kids and he stood there for a minute talking with his caddie...thought that was kind of odd.

[annie2]

Very strange indeed! He was lucky that he was up by 3! Bet he never makes that mistake again

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

A friend of mine lost the Massachusetts Open because of this exact situation. He needed to make a putt of less than two feet on the 18th hole in order to win. He marked his ball and moved his marker over one club head length so that his fellow competitor, who happened to be Dana Quigley, could putt first and finish out. Dana made a sixty foot putt to capture second place by himself. In all the excitement, my friend forgot to replace his marker back to it's original position. They must have changed the rule because back then, (I think it was 1983) the penalty for playing from a wrong place was disqualification. They made and exception because of the circumstances and there was a playoff which Dana won.

[Fourpar]

Can't believe the caddy didn't pay better attention and prevent this from happening. He was probably too busy taking the flag off the stick!
Bet neither player nor caddy will be letting this happen again!

[BarryRX]

Can't believe the caddy didn't pay better attention and prevent this from happening. He was probably too busy taking the flag off the stick!
Bet neither player nor caddy will be letting this happen again!
I thought the exact same thing.

[chuckinca]

I believe I read that the caddie was raking the trap.


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[collie1228]

My putter has a hole in the butt of the grip. When I move my marker to get out of another player's lie, I stick a tee in the hole to remind me I have to return my ball marker to its original position. I've never forgotten since I started doing this. Without it, I'd forget about 90% of the time.

[ajbrown]

A friend of mine lost the Massachusetts Open because of this exact situation. He needed to make a putt of less than two feet on the 18th hole in order to win. He marked his ball and moved his marker over one club head length so that his fellow competitor, who happened to be Dana Quigley, could putt first and finish out. Dana made a sixty foot putt to capture second place by himself. In all the excitement, my friend forgot to replace his marker back to it's original position. They must have changed the rule because back then, (I think it was 1983) the penalty for playing from a wrong place was disqualification. They made and exception because of the circumstances and there was a playoff which Dana won.

Wow. To be that close to what I assume would have been very special win for your friend must have been quite devastating. That would wake me up at night for some time after......

I have no stories that grand, but I did miss qualifying for the MA Amateur one year via a penalty. On the 18 hole, the ball was on the fringe, as I went to putt, it moved and I incurred a one shot penalty, putting me in a playoff where they would take 2 players out of 9. I did not survive that and missed the tournament. That bugged me for a while.....

PS. As far as Zack, I was surprised that NO one noticed. I include in that group Duffner and his caddie.

[Russ_Boston]

A friend of mine lost the Massachusetts Open because of this exact situation. He needed to make a putt of less than two feet on the 18th hole in order to win. He marked his ball and moved his marker over one club head length so that his fellow competitor, who happened to be Dana Quigley, could putt first and finish out. Dana made a sixty foot putt to capture second place by himself. In all the excitement, my friend forgot to replace his marker back to it's original position. They must have changed the rule because back then, (I think it was 1983) the penalty for playing from a wrong place was disqualification. They made and exception because of the circumstances and there was a playoff which Dana won.

If the Mass Open was match play then the mistake would have been loss of hole. Maybe that's what happened? I really don't think an exception was made. These state opens are played to the letter of the law. (BTW: Dana was a great name from my area of the world in Rehobeth, MA - I think he won every New England State open at some point!).

Let's not forget that Zack's caddie's dad died last week. I think there was true emotion over that. Of course the player, and only the player, has the obligation of remembering but usually the caddie or fellow competitor will remind you.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

If the Mass Open was match play then the mistake would have been loss of hole. Maybe that's what happened? I really don't think an exception was made. These state opens are played to the letter of the law. (BTW: Dana was a great name from my area of the world in Rehobeth, MA - I think he won every New England State open at some point!).

Let's not forget that Zack's caddie's dad died last week. I think there was true emotion over that. Of course the player, and only the player, has the obligation of remembering but usually the caddie or fellow competitor will remind you.

The Mass Open has been at stroke play for as long as I can remember. The incident took place on the 18th hole at Charles River Country Club.
Yes, the state open is run by the letter of the rules. The rules in this case provided the committee with some leeway. I believe that the rule at the time was that the player had to go back and replay the stroke from the correct place and take a two stroke penalty, but this must be done before the ball is holed. If a ball played from a wrong place was holed the penalty was disqualification. There is a provision in the rules called equity. I believe that the MGA used the equity rule to give my friend, Andy Morse two strokes and not disqualify him.
Yes, Dana was a great player, It was really good to see him get his personal issues straightened out and go on to the wonderful success that he had on the Senior Tour