By Mark Lamport-Stokes
KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 12 (Reuters) – A bizarre
rules infraction effectively cost Carl Pettersson second place
at the PGA Championship on Sunday, though he still would have
finished a distant seven shots behind runaway winner Rory
McIlroy.
The Swede was slapped with a two-stroke penalty for
grounding his club in a hazard on the first hole and he ended up
tying for third, a closing two-over-par 72 leaving him nine
strokes off the lead.
It was the best of his three top-10 finishes in career
majors, but left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Yeah, it sucks for me, I would have finished second on my
own,” Pettersson, who ended up one stroke behind runner-up
Briton David Lynn, told reporters of his costly experience at
the par-four first.
“I played good enough on the front nine, though. Who knows
what would have happened; but Rory played great.
“Obviously I broke a rule there. I didn’t realise it myself
and I don’t think it affected the outcome of the shot, but it’s
just one of those things.”
Pettersson incurred the penalty after his clubhead touched a
dry leaf during his backswing inside a hazard line on the
opening hole.
He was warned by a rule official that an infraction may have
incurred but it was only confirmed to him after he had teed off
at the par-four fourth.
Remarkably, the Swede responded well with three birdies in
five holes before coming unstuck like so many others on the more
difficult back nine at Kiawah Island.
“It made me more motivated,” said Pettersson, a five-times
winner on the PGA Tour. “I got a little fired up and made some
birdies in a row there. I came back. But there was only one
winner today, really.”
Asked to explain what had happened with his second shot on
the opening hole, Pettersson replied: “I knew I could touch the
grass. I just didn’t think about the leaves. I didn’t think
twice about it when I hit the shot.
“A rules official came to me and it’s just one of those bad
rules in golf, because I didn’t rest the club down. If you’re in
a hazard, you can actually touch the grass. You just can’t put
any weight on it.
“I’ve got to take it on the chin, obviously, but it’s one of
those stupid rules. I didn’t even realise I moved it, because
I’m trying to hit the ball.”
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by John O’Brien)
