Pro golfer Austin Eckroat gets penalty stroke after 20-foot putt took over 10 seconds to drop in cup
Austin Eckroat appeared to sink a 20-foot putt for birdie Sunday at The Players Championship in Florida — only to have it wiped off the board in a rarely enforced timing rule.
Austin Eckroat appeared to sink a 20-foot putt for birdie Sunday at The Players Championship in Florida — only to have it wiped off the board in a rarely enforced timing rule.
On the par-5 11th hole at TPC Sawgrass, Eckroat, 25, left the ball on the hole’s edge, where it sat for about 30 seconds — and then fell in, to the gallery’s roar.
As the ball sat on the cup’s edge, Eckroat casually made his way to the hole. He appeared to stare down the ball and the hole for about 13 seconds until it finally dropped in, triggering a chorus of cheers.
But because the ball took over 10 seconds to drop in the hole after Eckroat reached it, a stroke was added to his score, and Eckroat walked away from 11 with only a par.
Eckroat, who ranks No. 48 and won his first PGA Tour title, the Cognizant Classic, this month, smiled and waved to the crowd when the ball finally fell.
Rating: 5