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PGA Tour: Spectator catches ball after professional tees off

At the PGA Tour team event, a fan apparently forgot that he was on a golf course and not a baseball field.

A fan has caught the ball out of the air on the PGA Tour. You can see his horror. (Source: X @PMTsportsbiz)
A fan has caught the ball out of the air on the PGA Tour. You can see his horror. (Source: X @PMTsportsbiz)

During the third round of the PGA Tour’s team event, a rare incident occurred when Brant Snedeker, the nine-time PGA Tour winner, hit his tee shot on the par-3 3rd. With water to his left and a strong wind from the right, Snedeker sent his tee shot onto the 185 metre hole hoping for a left turn through the wind, but the ball just wouldn’t budge and took a hop along a path before being caught by a spectator, to the amazement of all.

Spectator catches ball on the PGA Tour

What at first sounds like a made-up story actually happened. A fan saw Snedeker’s ball coming, went to his left and skilfully caught the Titleist out of the air. The catcher quickly turned to his friends, possibly to brag about his performance. Then the surrounding spectators reminded him where he was. Shouts rang out from the crowd: ‘NO! No. No. No!’ The fan dropped the ball and his horror at his own behaviour was clear to see. The group of spectators began to laugh and quickly dispersed. I guess no one wanted to be associated with the guy who caught a ball at a PGA Tour event. Even the commentators on the US channel ESPN could hardly believe their eyes: ‘Oh no!’ exclaimed an ESPN+ commentator. ‘He just caught the ball!’ ‘It’s all good,’ replied the co-commentator. ‘That’s a kid who plays a lot of baseball. He just forgot about it.’

But in fact all was well. According to the Rules of Golf, Rule 11.1a states: ‘If a player’s ball in motion accidentally strikes a person (including the player) or an outside influence, there is no penalty.’ Since the ball was not at rest, Snedeker simply played his ball from the spot where the fan dropped it. In the event that the fan had carried the ball away, Rule 11.1b states: ‘The player must place the original ball or another ball at the estimated spot directly below where the ball first came to rest on the person, animal or moving outside influence.’ Fortunately, it was all half as bad, but the faux pas is something the fan will probably not forget for the rest of his life. Snedeker and Reavie were oblivious to the whole thing. They played par on the course, but could only manage a 72 in the easier of the two formats this week.