Robert MacIntyre has been in sensational form at the BMW Championship through the first two rounds at Caves Valley.
MacIntyre carded rounds of 62 and 64 on Thursday and Friday at the BMW Championship and at the time of writing, he leads by six strokes.
After the rain delay on day one, MacIntyre came out all guns blazing at the BMW Championship and birdied his final six holes of his round.
His round of 62 was lauded by many of his peers, with Tommy Fleetwood describing MacIntyre’s 62 as ‘ridiculous’.
The Scot followed that round up with a sparkling, bogey-free 64.
He is now in a great position to go on and win the golf tournament. However, he would have been seriously worried towards the end of his second round on Friday.
Robert MacIntyre admits his ball moved on 16 at the BMW Championship
MacIntyre was visibly delighted with his second round when he walked off the golf course on Friday.
The 29-year-old spoke to the press immediately after leaving the 18th green, and he opened up on what some people believed may have been a potential rules violation on the 16th green.
MacIntyre faced a 30-foot putt for eagle on the par-five, before something very disconcerting happened.
The Scot explained the situation to waiting reporters.
He said: “Yeah, it moved, and my putter was down behind the ball about half an inch, three-quarters of an inch behind the ball. The ball moved.
“But I’ve had a couple this week that — my ball plugged on I think it was 5, the tee shot, and at the par-3 plugged, and the ball wouldn’t sit in its spot, so I had to find a near spot. But the greens are running at about 13 on the stimp on the flat, so the minute you get on a slope, they’re running about 16, 17, so they’re quick, and the ball will not sit on certain slopes.
“When you mark it and you replace it exactly where you’re meant to, sometimes it’s not in the exact spot that it’s laid in, and then it just won’t set. We had a few — Hideki had one today as well when he was chipping. Yeah, it’s closely-mown stuff.“
USGA’s rule explained after Robert MacIntyre incident at the BMW Championship
The rule which enabled MacIntyre to move on without penalty on 16 is explained via the USGA’s official website:
“If the ball is moved by natural forces after it has been marked and replaced on the putting green, it must be replaced on its original spot.“
So MacIntyre’s ball on the 16th green on day two of the BMW Championship was moved by ‘natural force’ AFTER he had marked it and replaced it.
The Scot then had to replace his ball in its original position, which is not an easy thing to do on greens which are running at around 13 on the Stimpmeter on the flat.
MacIntyre clearly didn’t do anything wrong, so the fact that he avoided a penalty on day two of the BMW Championship was completely justified.
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