Min Woo Lee was in the middle of the field when he teed off for Moving Day at the Masters Tournament 2025 . But things went south on the back nine. After bogeys on holes 10 and 11—both times missing the green—Lee ran into further trouble on the par-5 13th, where he was handed a penalty stroke.
His tee shot landed safely in the middle of the fairway, but the ball suddenly moved. To clarify the situation, Lee called in a rules official. After a review, the official concluded that Lee’s actions near the ball had caused it to move—this was confirmed in an official statement released by the Masters Committee. As a result, one penalty stroke was added to Lee’s score on the 13th hole under Rule 9.4b.
This rule states: “If a player lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move, the player gets one penalty stroke.” What exactly caused the ball to move remains unknown.
Lee went on to lose two more strokes during the round and finished with a 77 (+5), dropping him to T49 on the leaderboard.
The Masters Tournament 2025: Statement regarding Min Woo Lee’s penalty stroke
Statement from Tournament Headquarters:
On hole No. 13, Min Woo Lee asked for assistance after his ball moved on the fairway. It was determined his actions near the ball did cause it to move and one penalty stroke was added to his score under Rule 9.4b.— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2025
Rule 9.4b is part of the Rule 9.4 category, which applies “when it is known or virtually certain that the player (including their caddie) lifted or deliberately touched their ball at rest or that their actions caused the ball to move.”
There are exceptions—for example, if the ball is allowed to be lifted to drop it, if it was accidentally moved during a search, during the application of another rule, or if it came to rest on the player or their equipment. On the putting green, accidental ball movement would also not result in a penalty. However, none of these exceptions applied in Lee’s case.
